


A Different Kind of Magic

by Maisey2k10



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: AU, Family, Humour, Multi, Powerful! Hermione!, Romance, SOULMATES!, Triad - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-10
Updated: 2020-01-27
Packaged: 2021-02-19 01:02:19
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death, Rape/Non-Con, Underage
Chapters: 36
Words: 146,928
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22202725
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Maisey2k10/pseuds/Maisey2k10
Summary: Hermione’s secret is discovered by the Order of the Phoenix and she's in need of saving. With the help of Sirius, she learns to put the past behind her, and with the help of the Weasley Twins, they show her a happy future. But Hermione isn’t who she thinks she is, what she discovers will change both her life and the future of the Wizarding World for good. Rated for language, violence and sexual content. Triad fic! HGxFWxGW pairing! No Twincest! Soulmates! Powerful!Hermione! Some Ginny/Ron bashing.
Relationships: Hermione Granger/Fred Weasley/George Weasley
Comments: 23
Kudos: 327
Collections: Kelly's Picks





	1. Prologue Part One

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: All original characters and canon events belong to J.K. Rowling. Non-canon events are my own ideas. I am not making any profit from posting this fanfic. Rated for language, violence and sexual content. Triad fic! No Twincest! Powerful!Hermione!
> 
> Trigger Warning! Although nothing is described in detail, sexual and physical abuse and attempted rape is mentioned and implied, at least for the next few chapters. Archive warnings are as a precaution. 
> 
> Ron/Ginny bashing.
> 
> Page Count: 10

**12 Grimmauld Place – Tuesday 11th July 1995**

The newly reinstated Order of the Phoenix had a new headquarters. Below the ground floor lived the basement and the ground floor contained the kitchen and pantry, the main living room, the large and dark library and a study. The first floor contained a bathroom and four bedrooms, where the second floor consisted of a bathroom, four bedrooms, a small living room and a study. The third floor held four bedrooms and a bathroom, and the fourth floor contained a bathroom and four bedrooms, with the attic above that, which was where Buckbeak the hippogriff was kept for safety and privacy.

The house was remarkably larger than it appeared to be on the outside thanks to magic, and it was the childhood home of Sirius Black. It was a cold and dark place with peeling and mouldy wallpaper, dark rooms, house-elves and animal heads stuck on pikes on the walls and every room was disgustingly decorated and covered in dust and filth. Everyone hated having to visit but it was the safest place for headquarters with the blood wards and the house being under the Fidelius Charm for extra security.

The house contained many painful memories and hardly any good ones for Sirius Black and he thought it would make his mother roll in her grave to have blood traitors, werewolves and half-bloods in her house. The house where she had pushed her supremacy bullshit onto Sirius as a child. He thought it rather poetic that her home was converted into a safe haven for those fighting for The Order and against The Dark Lord and his followers.

Voldemort was back and the war had begun, but the Ministry refused to acknowledge the truth and remained blind to the true happenings in the Wizarding World. Sirius Black was a free man, his previous convictions overturned and his status regained and he was ready for a fight. He was ready to finish what he’d started all those years ago. And his first order of business was to avenge James’ and Lily’s deaths, which would not be pleasant for a certain rat.

The status of war had Molly and Arthur Weasley taking precautions and for the safety of their family, they moved into Grimmauld Place alongside Sirius Black.

It was early evening, around four o’clock, when the members of the Order of the Phoenix found themselves sat around a large wooden table in the kitchen of Grimmauld Place. Those present included Molly and Arthur Weasley, Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, Nymphadora Tonks, Kingsley Shacklebolt, Alastor Moody, Minerva McGonagall, Severus Snape, and as usual, Albus Dumbledore was leading the charge. There were many members of The Order, some had not survived the first war and some weren’t deemed relevant enough to attend that particular meeting. This meeting was for the key players in the Order, the highest rankers and the ones with the most responsibility.

They were currently discussing the situation of the Wizarding World, discussing battle plans and missions when something strange happened. 

An alarm suddenly sounded, the strange and loud noise filling the entire house. The occupants of the kitchen startled, but Dumbledore had a look of worry on his face and he stood from his seat, and when he did, the others followed suit.

“What is it?” Remus asked with a frown, not liking Dumbledore’s reaction, or what the alarm could possibly mean.

“What’s happening?” Mrs. Weasley asked with a fearful expression.

“Not long before the students returned home, I placed a series of wards around the homes of Half-bloods and Muggleborns that reside in the Muggle World, and if this alarm has been activated it means that one of my pupils is in danger,” Dumbledore answered, whilst he busied himself whilst casting the Locator Charm so he could identify the source of concern.

“Harry?” Sirius said quickly.

With a flick and swirl of Dumbledore’s wand, the address finally appeared before him, floating in the air in a strange blue mist.

“No, Miss. Granger,” he spoke, his voice sounding strong but remarkably calm. Mrs. Weasley gasped and clung to her husband. “I must get there immediately.”

Dumbledore quickly left the kitchen with Sirius and Remus following behind him. 

“We’re coming too,” Remus spoke with no room for an argument from the powerful wizard.

“We owe a lot to the little witch,” Sirius nodded in agreement, a fond tone to his voice. “And if she needs us then nothing short of death will prevent us from being there for her.”

Dumbledore nodded in agreement, as they strode past the staircase in the hallway and towards the door, barely registering the four Weasley teenagers stood on the staircase with their hands covering their ears.

“What’s going on?” Ron yelled over the alarm that seemed to be getting louder. Mrs. Weasley’s eyes started pooling with tears, and one fell from her eye and slid down her cheek.

“It’s nothing children, go back to your rooms. The alarm will stop shortly and everything will be alright,” she spoke.

They stayed rooted in place and the looks on their faces told they were not going to move from the spot they stood on until they had their answers.

“Now children! We have no idea what we may find and you do not need to witness what it may be,” her voice rose slightly.

“What’s happening?” Fred shouted, ignoring her words like the rest of his siblings.

“What are you on about?” George yelled.

“Go back to your rooms now!” Mrs. Weasley shrieked.

That had them running up the stairs and back into their rooms, fearing for their Mother’s temper and wooden spoon which she always seemed to have with her.

“I hope they get there in time,” she cried into her husband’s chest.

“I’m sure they will, Mollywobbles, I’m sure they will,” he placated, but he wasn’t sure if he was trying to convince his wife or himself.

~000~000~000~

**Granger Residence**

Dumbledore, Remus and Sirius landed with ‘cracks’ of the telltale sign of apparition and they wasted no time in rushing from the alleyway and down the street until they reached the Granger house.

They stopped; it was still light out being that it was summer, so they had to be careful should muggle neighbours or passersby witness something they shouldn’t. When they reached the house there were no signs of a break-in. There were no loud noises. There was no dark mark above the house. There were no signs of dark magic. Everything seemed fine.

“Nothing’s wrong?” Remus spoke confused.

“No, the alarm was activated for a reason,” Dumbledore spoke with a frown marring his features.

He stepped forward and tried the door handle but it was locked, so he slyly used an Unlocking Charm, the tip of his wand peaking out of his sky blue robe sleeve.

The three men entered the house and they quickly and quietly made their way down the hallway and into the living room, where they found Mrs. Granger laughing madly with two wine glasses in her hands. Sirius and Remus both had enhanced senses of smell and they knew without a doubt that the wine glasses were half-filled with muggle alcohol, and that Mrs. Granger had surpassed being drunk; she was on another level entirely. 

“NO, NO, PLEASE DON’T! NO!” A blood-curdling scream tore through the silence and it came from above them.

Remus and Sirius ran for the stairs leaving Dumbledore behind. They followed the sounds and when they reached a locked bedroom door, Sirius kicked it open so forcefully, that it fell off its hinges and landed on the floor with a loud ‘bang’.

That’s when they saw Hermione laid on the bed, sobbing as a man laid on top of her. Sirius saw red, Black temper red! Without thought, he dropped his wand and ran forward, where he pulled the man off of Hermione and onto the floor, and he started punching him in his face.

Hermione sat up and her sobs grew louder. Suddenly water started pouring in the room, lightning flashed and thunder roared. They were all being soaked from head to toe and they couldn’t hear themselves think over the loud roar of the thunder clashes.

Sirius was momentarily distracted from kicking the shit out of the man and he looked over to Hermione. She was readjusting her summer dress and he could clearly see that she had a split lip, blood was pouring out of her nose, she had a black eye and she cradled her right arm to her chest protectively. He could see bruises in the shape of hand marks on her arms and legs and she had bruises on her wrists.

He snapped.

He turned back to the man on the floor and continued to land blows on every body part possible until the man passed out.

“Sirius!” Remus called from Hermione’s bedside. “SIRIUS!” He yelled, finally getting the raging wizard’s attention, as he pulled back his fist and turned his eyes to Remus. “That’s enough; we need to see to Hermione,” the werewolf spoke. 

That broke Sirius out of his fury and he rushed to the bed, where he pulled Hermione against him as she sobbed and he held her as tightly as he could without hurting her further. The lightning and thunder stopped and the pouring rain cleared. Everything in the room was soaked and Remus and Sirius looked at each other before looking at Hermione and then back to each other once more.

“Accidental magic maybe,” Remus offered quietly.

“That was not accidental magic,” Sirius hissed. “That was something else entirely.”

He looked down at the sobbing witch he held against his chest and he shook his head. Remus used his wand to dry everything in the room, including them, leaving no evidence of what they’d just witnessed.

“We don’t tell anyone about this.”

Remus nodded in agreement. “This is a job for the muggle police, they will see to it that Hermione gets justice,” Remus spoke softly. “We can’t heal her injuries, the muggle justice system will need to see it as evidence, but as a precaution, we should document her injuries.” Remus pointed his wand. “Accio camera,” he muttered, hoping there was one somewhere in the house. Thankfully the muggle camera flew into the room and he caught it in his outstretched hand.

Dumbledore entered the room at that point, his eyes filled with sadness at the scene that met him. “Are you well, My Dear?” he asked.

Sirius glared at him. “Of course she isn’t, Albus!” Sirius snapped.

Dumbledore didn’t take it to heart. “The muggle police have been informed and are currently on route. I will heal Mr. Granger’s injuries. Sirius, Remus, please escort Miss. Granger into another room and document her injuries.”

Sirius was careful as he lifted Hermione into his arms and they left the room and entered the guest bedroom across the hallway. Sirius deposited her on the bed and Remus proceeded in taking photos of the injuries that were visible.

“Do you have injuries anywhere else, Hermione?” Remus asked kindly and she nodded in reply. “Do you need me to get you a pair of shorts?” he asked, noticing the way her eyes were glued to her legs.

She nodded again, and so Remus accioed a pair from her room and seeing that it would be difficult for her to put them on herself, he used magic to speed up the process.

Sirius stood up from being perched beside her on the bed and supported her weight as she stood too. She was still sobbing and with her uninjured arm, she lifted her dress to show her stomach. What they saw made both men wish they could rush into the other room and Crucio the unconscious man on the floor. Almost her entire stomach was covered in bruises of different sizes and colours showing some were old and others more recent; they were blue, purple, yellow, orange and green.

One look from Remus had Sirius pinned to the ground. Hermione turned and showed them her back and she had similar bruises, though not as many.

“We’re finished, for now, Hermione,” Remus said softly and he put the camera down on the bedside table.

Sirius sat on the bed with Hermione cradled gently against his chest and he rocked them back and forth comfortingly, muttering an old wizarding lullaby, he didn’t even know he remembered.

His heart went out to the little witch in his arms. He had been abused by his parents, except they preferred to use the Cruciatus. If it was used correctly no marks were left behind and there was no proof of such mistreatment. He only felt the pain of the curse and he’d certainly never been sexually abused, he was lucky that his parents drew the line at that form of punishment, even if they were sick bastards.

He owed his life to Hermione, she was the reason he was no longer a fugitive. She’d put together a tight-knit case for him and the Ministry never stood a chance. When he was on the run the previous year she had covertly sent him packages of food and blankets. He was alive, free and healthy because of her; she had looked after him, a complete stranger. The same for Remus; she anonymously sent him baskets of chocolate during the week of the full moon -but they knew it was her- and she kept his secret. She cared for everyone, and now he vowed to take care of her.

Dumbledore appeared in the doorway, he handed Sirius his wand and he transfigured his robes into a muggle suit. Sirius was wearing a black t-shirt, black jeans and black hiking boots and Remus was wearing a white shirt, brown tie and brown suit pants and smart shoes, so they would both pass for muggles. Sirius made sure to cast a Glamour Charm over himself to hide his blood-covered and swollen hands, and they all put their wands out of sight.

“The muggle policemen have just arrived outside of the house. Miss. Granger has no other living relatives and we need to find someone who will take parental guardianship, otherwise, she will be placed into a muggle foster home,” Dumbledore explained.

“I’ll do it,” Sirius said instantly and without thought. Dumbledore’s eyes twinkled knowingly.

“I thought that may be the case. I have called in a favour and a Half-blood lawyer who practices in the Muggle World will be arriving shortly. I have healed Mr. Granger’s injuries except for two. Sirius, you pulled Mr. Granger off of Miss. Granger, you later broke his nose and then knocked him unconscious.”

Sirius gritted his teeth but nodded to Dumbledore’s words. Dumbledore handed Hermione a piece of paper that had the address to Grimmauld Place on and she read it through her sobs and Remus took it from her and stuffed it into his pocket until could later be destroyed.

Dumbledore left the room and made his way down the stairs to coordinate with the police whilst Remus and Sirius stayed with Hermione, keeping her safe and protected.

Ten minutes later Dumbledore accompanied several members of the police force up the stairs. Some went into Hermione’s room to arrest Mr. Granger and two came into the guest room, one was male and the other female. Their eyes hardened when they immediately saw Hermione’s injuries and the way she was all but clinging for dear life onto Sirius’ t-shirt as she sobbed uncontrollably. 

Remus stood up and handed the camera to the policemen. “We’ve documented her injuries, it was more comfortable for her that it be done by us,” he explained. The policeman blinked and then thanked him.

“We need to take a statement,” he informed them. “Since Miss. Granger is a minor, there must be a family member present.”

“I’ll stay,” Sirius spoke.

“Are you a family member, Mr...?”

“Black, Sirius Black,” he answered. Their eyes widened as they recognised him as the former fugitive that had been found to be innocent. “We’re not related by blood, but we’re family.”

“I’m afraid that doesn’t consent you to be...”

“Yes, it does,” a man in his thirties stepped into the room.

He was wearing a grey muggle suit with a black tie and black dress shoes and carrying a briefcase. He handed the policeman a letter.

“I am Miss. Granger’s lawyer, Henry Farrow. Mr. Black is now Miss. Granger’s legal guardian, it’s signed by Judge Mullins himself,” the lawyer spoke and the policeman turned his attention to the letter in his hand, reading it over before nodding.

“Mr. Black, you may be present, I think it will be more comfortable if we take the statement here rather than the hospital or station.”

“She’s right-handed and appears to have a broken right arm,” Remus spoke up.

“Miss. Granger may tell us what happened and my colleague will write the statement for her. Afterwards, she will be taken to the hospital for medical care. We will also need statements from the three of you, and you will need to testify in court.”

“Couldn’t keep us away,” Remus agreed.

“As a special request Judge Mullins has agreed to have the trial a week from today given the circumstances and for the safety of my client,” Farrow injected and the two police officers nodded.

“Miss. Granger, are you up to telling us what happened?” the female officer asked softly. “There is an ambulance waiting to take you to the hospital once we are finished.” Hermione sniffled but nodded.

After thirty minutes of Hermione giving her statement through sobs and ten minutes of Sirius giving his statement, he carried Hermione down the stairs and to the ambulance. A crowd of nosey neighbours and passersby had gathered and murmurs and whispers picked up when they saw Hermione being brought out of the house and placed into the ambulance.

Sirius accompanied her to the hospital, stating that ‘Hell would freeze over before he left her,’ and after that, the paramedics didn’t bother arguing with him. All the doctors could do for Hermione was attend to her confirmed broken arm. They took her for several scans and it revealed she also had two broken ribs which had to heal by themselves, along with her bruises and cuts. They weighed her and took her clothing for evidence; they took more photos and carried out a sexual assault test. Her lawyer had found them at the hospital and with him, he’d brought Hermione some sleep clothes. A nurse helped her to dress and she was given some pain medication that had her drowsy and sleeping within minutes. Sirius refused to let her stay overnight in the hospital and instead apparated them straight to Grimmauld Place.

~000~000~000~

**12 Grimmauld Place**

He shuffled Hermione in his arms so he could better open the door. The sounds of him entering the house attracted everyone and they rushed out from the living room where they had been waiting and they stood in the hallway as Sirius kicked the door shut with his foot.

Gasps filled the hallway when they saw Hermione and the women had tears in their eyes. Hermione was asleep in Sirius’ arms, wearing a pair of pink sleep shorts and a white t-shirt. The clothing didn’t hide her injuries and they could see the bruises on her and some blood-stained her face where it hadn’t been washed off entirely. She had her arm in a splint and it was in a sling.

“Hermione! What happened?” Mrs. Weasley asked quickly.

“It wasn’t Death Eaters,” Sirius said, his voice cold and dark, much like Grimmauld Place.

“Who was it then? Why was the alarm tripped?” Tonks asked confused.

He ignored the question. “We got there just in time. Her injuries aren’t allowed to be healed as there is to be a muggle trial next week. She has bruising covering her stomach and back, two broken ribs as well as a broken arm, and she’s underweight. I’m her legal guardian now.” Mrs. Weasley looked as though she wanted to argue. “No, Molly, I am her legal guardian,” he said, his voice leaving no room for argument before he headed towards the staircase.

Unknown to them, two red-headed twins were hiding on the first floor landing and they’d listened to the conversation. When they heard footfalls approaching, they apparated into their bedroom on the third floor.

They sat at the end of their beds and looked at each other in shock.

“Merlin, Granger!” they both whispered quietly.

“We might not t know what happened, but she didn’t deserve this,” George spoke.

“No, she didn’t,” Fred agreed. “You heard Sirius, there’s a trial next week.”

“We’re of age now, we can use magic to follow them and find out what’s going on,” George suggested, and they both nodded to each other in agreement.

~000~000~000~

Sirius climbed the stairs and walked into one of the first floor bedrooms that had already been cleaned and it was free of dust and grime. The walls were a pale yellow; the queen-sized bed was against the back wall and the bedding was white. There were light wooden flooring and white furniture in the form of a bedside table and a chest of drawers. There was a walk-in closet and a bay window that had been charmed due to the fact her room didn’t actually have a window. And completing the room was an en-suite bathroom which Sirius thought would be much more appropriate for Hermione.

He put Hermione into bed and covered her with the blanket to protect her from the chill of the dark house. He had a feeling he should stay and so he changed into Padfoot, jumped up onto the mattress and curled up at the end of the bed.

Two hours later Remus came up to the room with food. Sirius changed back and took the food from Remus but he stayed perched on the bed whilst he ate.

“What happened?”

“When you left Albus and I gave our statements. Mr. and Mrs. Granger were both taken into custody and charged with physical and sexual abuse; it seems as though Mrs. Granger knew about the abuse and sometimes participated physically.” Sirius gripped his fork tightly and the handle bent. “The trial is next Tuesday at ten o’clock. Albus, myself, you and Hermione have to be in attendance. He is also bringing along Minerva to speak out on Hermione’s character. I have no doubt Molly and Arthur will wish to attend too. Dumbledore has called a meeting in a few days time so we may discuss what is to be said. We need a cover story as to why we were there in the first place, and we obviously can’t reveal anything about magic, Hogwarts or her classes. On the statement I am still Professor Lupin, it explains why I was there too,” Remus spoke and Sirius nodded. Remus turned his gaze to the sleeping Hermione. “How’s she been?”

“The occasional whimper or mumbled word, but other than that she’s been alright. Whatever they gave her was strong enough to knock her out.”

~000~000~000~

“NO, PLEASE DON’T! I’LL BE GOOD, I PROMISE!”

The sleeping dog startled awake as he saw Hermione thrashing about in her sleep and crying. He quickly changed into Sirius, moved over to her and pulled her to him, cradling her gently as he whispered in her ear and rocked her until she calmed down. He was glad he had put silencing wards around the room otherwise the whole house would’ve woken up to her screams. He changed into Padfoot once more and Hermione clung to him in her sleep for the rest of the night.

~000~000~000~

The next day Hermione didn’t leave the room. Remus brought up breakfast and a cup of coffee for Sirius and a bowl of cut-up fruit and orange juice for Hermione. He used the password he knew Sirius had placed on the door, so only he and Remus could enter the room for Hermione’s safety, comfort and privacy.

Ginny, Ron and the twins all emerged from their rooms at the same time and they made their way to the staircase. They watched as Remus whispered a password and entered the room, opening it just wide enough to enter, but not enough for the four teens to be able to look inside and see what was behind the door. When he opened the door, they heard a loud sobbing and the twins looked at each other sadly.

“I wonder who’s in there,” Ginny said curiously.

“Yeah,” Ron agreed, but the twins knew. “I wonder what happened after that alarm stopped,” Ron mused and they all made their way down to breakfast.

Lunch was the same with Remus taking food up to Sirius and Hermione, the door opening and the teens hearing sobs, and it was the same with dinner. Sirius hadn’t come out of the room since the evening before and neither had Hermione.

~000~000~000~

The rest of the week followed in the same manner. No one had seen or spoken to Sirius with the exception or Remus in the past six days. Hermione stopped spending the day crying after the third day at Grimmauld. Sirius explained where she was and they talked about many things.

Eventually, he got her to open up to him about her parents and he had locked himself in the en-suite bathroom for two hours to help himself calm down, and to prevent himself from doing something stupid, like tracking down The Granger parents, murdering them both and ending up in Azkaban again, this time his crime of killing muggles would be accurate.

He spoke to her about his parents and his childhood and in doing so, they formed a bond. He had managed to make her laugh a few times when he spoke about his Marauder years and it warmed his heart to hear the sound. She had started eating the food Remus brought up for them after some encouragement and her quantity of food intake increased and she seemed to be slowly putting weight back on too, largely thanks to the Nutrition Potion they had been slipping into her pumpkin juice. She would have nightmares every night and Sirius would talk to her until she calmed down and then change into Padfoot and lay next to her until the morning. Ron and Ginny were still clueless as to who was in the room, but Fred and George knew.

It was now the day before the trial. Remus had been back to The Granger house to pack up Hermione’s belongings and he brought them back to Grimmauld. Seeing that Hermione didn’t have much clothing, Sirius gave Mrs. Weasley his vault number and told her to buy anything Hermione would like at Diagon Alley and he had Tonks do the same for the Muggle World since she had visited many times before.

“Hermione, where’s Crookshanks?” Remus asked softly. “I couldn’t find him when I went to collect your belongings.”

Hermione started crying. “He killed him. Crookshanks tried to protect me and he killed him, I buried him in the back garden by the tree and that earned me a beating.”

Sirius growled; he liked Crookshanks, he was his friend and he’d helped him when he’d escaped from Azkaban.

“I’m sorry,” Remus said quietly.

“You should get some sleep, Kitten; the trial’s in the morning,” Sirius said. 

Hermione nodded and crawled into bed, falling into a fitful sleep, but Sirius was there with her and she wasn’t alone, but protected and safe.


	2. Prologue Part Two

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trigger Warning! Although nothing is described in detail, sexual and physical abuse and attempted rape is mentioned and implied, at least for the next couple of chapters.
> 
> Page Count: 13

**12 Grimmauld Place - Tuesday 18th July 1995**

When everyone was still sleeping, Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, Sirius, Remus and Hermione gathered in the living room. They would be taking a port key to Muggle London, whilst Tonks stayed behind to watch over the Weasley children, and Professors Dumbledore and McGonagall would be waiting for them to arrive at the courthouse.

They were all dressed in muggle clothing with Remus wearing his customary white shirt, brown tie, brown suit and black shoes, Sirius wearing a black suit accompanied by a black tie and shoes and a white shirt. He left his dark shoulder-length hair down and Hermione thought the sight amusing since he hated dressing up. She laughed when Remus smacked Sirius on the back of the head for his inability to stop fiddling with his suit jacket and trying to take it off. In the end, Remus placed a Sticking Charm on it.

Mr. Weasley was wearing a blue suit and tie, with a white shirt and brown shoes. Mrs. Weasley was wearing a grey pencil skirt with a white blouse and two-inch black heels on her feet, whilst Hermione had settled for a black trouser suit, a white short-sleeved blouse and black flats. Her suit jacket rested over her right shoulder since she couldn’t move her arm, but after the trial was over Madam Pomphrey would be able to magically heal her. She couldn’t be bothered with her mass of curls that had sorted themselves out somewhat over the years and had, therefore, asked Sirius to put it up in a ponytail for her as she couldn’t do it herself. 

Fred and George had placed Disillusionment Charm on themselves and snuck into the room, where they saw Hermione for the first time in a week. She didn’t look well. She looked exhausted and pale. She had dark circles under her eyes, but all of her injuries were covered with the exception of her broken arm and healing black eye, cut lip and the slowly healing broken nose.

“We should get going before we’re late,” Remus spoke up, as he held out the port key, waiting for everyone to grab a hold before it activated.

They each took hold of a small section of the old walking cane that had been turned into a port key, and before they left Fred and George grabbed a hold of the end, far away enough to not bump into someone during transport.

~000~000~000~

**Muggle London**

They landed in an alleyway and Fred and George made sure to stay behind them, not wishing to risk being caught. They followed them into a large building and someone showed them to the correct room. They noted it looked similar to a wizarding trial room only it was much smaller.

The judge sat at the front of the room with the witness stand beside him. Opposite them were two tables, on one of them sat her lawyer and on the other sat her parents and their lawyer. The jury box was off to the right and the galley was as soon as you entered the room.

They all took seats to the right and as far away from Hermione’s parents as possible. Remus and Sirius sat on either side of Hermione and Mr. and Mrs. Weasley sat beside Remus. Professors Dumbledore and McGonagall were already in attendance and they sat on Sirius’ other side. Fred and George kept on their Disillusionment Charms and sat further back away from their parents, but they could see and hear perfectly.

Hermione’s mother was already on the witness stand and had previously been questioned by her lawyer. Photographic evidence had already been shown as well as hospital scans and records over the years. It seemed Hermione had visited the hospital a fair few times over the years and her muggle doctor testified to that before she’d arrived.

“Mrs. Granger, you don’t deny that your daughter has received medical attention many times in the past?” Farrow asked.

“Well, Hermione has always been a clumsy child,” she replied with a sniff, her head titled slightly as though she were looking down on him.

“A clumsy child? Her medical records show that Miss. Granger has been treated for several broken fingers on both hands, a broken left arm, a broken right leg, a broken right wrist and several broken ribs throughout the years. Not to mention several burns and cuts.”

“As I said, she’s a clumsy child.”

“Don’t you have any remorse for the pain you’ve caused your daughter?”

“I haven’t done anything, these charges are ridiculous. If there had been concerns, I’m sure the doctor would’ve contacted Child Protective Services long before now, but they never have. She’s an attention seeker.”

Sirius gritted his teeth and pulled Hermione towards him protectively as she looked down at the floor, unable to lift her eyes and look at her parents.

“No further questions, Your Honour,” Farrow spoke.

Mrs. Granger sat back at the table and Mr. Granger took his place at the witness stand, his lawyer asked a few simple questions and then Farrow took over.

“Mr. Granger, your DNA was found on several items of Miss. Granger’s clothing and the results of the sexual assault test show that your seminal DNA was found in her mouth.”

He shrugged. “My daughter’s a slut, she wanted it. I know she did.”

Hermione started crying and Mrs. Weasley gasped and clung to her husband, Remus let out a low growl which would be associated with a wolf, and Sirius mumbled words and insults not appropriate for a young person’s ears. Fred and George knew they both had looks of horror on their faces even whilst they still sat under the Disillusionment Charm.

“When you were found your daughter was begging, screaming and crying, was she not?”

“Yes, for more, she loved it,” he shrugged. 

“You don’t think highly of your daughter, do you?”

He didn’t answer. “I'm a well-respected member of the community. Anyone will testify to that, anyone will tell you that I only gave her what she wanted.”

“You didn’t answer the question I asked you, but it no longer matters. No further questions, Your Honour.”

Dumbledore was called to the stand.

“Professor Dumbledore, what is the nature of your relationship with Miss. Granger?”

“I am the Headmaster of the school she attends.”

“And this school is?”

“Hogwarts, we are a school for students with exceptional gifts,” Dumbledore answered.

“What is your opinion on Miss. Granger?”

“Miss. Granger was invited to attend Hogwarts for her intelligence. I have been the Headmaster for thirty-nine years and I have not met a brighter student. She is a credit to the school.”

“Do you believe that Miss. Granger is ‘seeking attention’?”

“I do not, no. Miss. Granger has the highest grades in the school; her intelligence rivals some of the greatest minds the world has ever seen. Not only have I witnessed her incredible intelligence, I have witnessed her kindness and her selflessness. She goes out of her way to make sure others understand the work set and are passing their classes if they are struggling. She has never been late for a lesson and her schoolwork is always exceptional. There is not one professor who has nothing but compliments for Miss. Granger, and I believe she is destined for great things”

“You speak highly of Miss. Granger. Why were you at the Granger residence?”

“Mr. Black, Professor Lupin and I were visiting Miss. Granger. We wished to confirm that Miss. Granger would be returning to Hogwarts for her fifth year. We had written several letters asking for a response, but we never received one, so as protocol and under the guidelines of Hogwarts policies and the Board of Governors, a personal visit was made.”

“What time did you arrive at The Granger residence? What alerted you to Miss. Granger requiring help?”

“We arrived outside The Granger residence at approximately half-past four in the evening and we heard a noise. We waited for our presence to be acknowledged, before entering the unlocked house when we heard the sound a second time. Mrs. Granger was found to have ingested copious amounts of alcohol.”

“How much would you say?”

“I can’t know for sure, however, there were several empty bottles of alcohol on the living room coffee table.”

“What happened after that?”

“Mrs. Granger was laughing, when a scream and crying was heard. Professor Lupin and Mr. Black immediately followed the sound upstairs, where they stumbled upon Miss. Granger and her father. I called the police and alerted them to the need for assistance.”

“Thank you, Professor Dumbledore.”

Professor McGonagall was called to the stand.

“Professor McGonagall, what is your relationship with Miss. Granger?”

“I am the head of her school house.”

“What is your opinion of Miss. Granger?”

“She is without a doubt an exemplary student, academically and otherwise.”

“Has Miss. Granger ever received disciplinary action whilst attending school?”

“Once or twice, though the reasons were not severe.”

“The reasons being?”

Miss. Granger was caught sneaking out of her common room after curfew to get a midnight snack from the kitchens. All students do this at least twice during the school year, it is a regular occurrence.”

“So other than that no serious transgressions? Has Miss. Granger caused any trouble? Is she an attention seeker?”

“No, and I do not believe she is an attention seeker. I have witnessed on many occasions Miss. Granger putting others before herself. When she isn’t with her friends she is in the school library studying. As Professor Dumbledore said, Miss. Granger’s intelligence is unrivalled by most in the school. I dare say her intelligence is greater than many of the Professors at Hogwarts, as is her kindness and compassion for others.”

“Thank you.”

Next on the stand was Remus.

“Professor Lupin, we have already heard why you were visiting Miss. Granger, what happened after you heard Miss. Granger’s cries for help?”

“Mr. Black and I moved to the staircase and followed the sounds of Miss Granger’s cries, screams and begs. The door was locked and at that point, the sounds heard were hysterical, and so Mr. Black kicked the door off its hinges to gain access to the room. Mr. Granger was seen to be on top of Miss. Granger. Mr. Black pulled him off her and I stayed by her bedside. Mr. Granger was on the floor unconscious and once he was no longer a threat, Mr. Black and I removed Miss. Granger from her bedroom and took her to the guest room. I found a camera and documented her injuries. A pair of shorts were retrieved for her to slip on under her dress and I photographed the bruises on her stomach and back, knowing she would be more comfortable with me doing it over a complete stranger. When the police arrived I gave my statement and Miss. Granger was taken to the hospital.”

Sirius was up next on the stand.

“Mr. Black, why were you accompanying Professors Dumbledore and Lupin to Miss. Granger’s residence? You are not a staff member at Hogwarts.”

“Hermione is the best friend of my Godson, we are not blood-related but we are family. I was an innocent man convicted of unspeakable crimes. Hermione helped my case and thanks to her, I am now a free man and the truth of the real criminal is known. I was just at the wrong place at the wrong time. I wished to visit her before visiting my Godson. I attended Hogwarts as I child and Remus Lupin is my best friend and has been since my first year at Hogwarts. Professor Dumbledore was my Headmaster and he agreed to allow me to accompany him to the visitation.”

“What happened when you entered the residence?”

“Mrs. Granger was clearly drunk; she could barely sit up by herself.”

“I can confirm that both Mr. and Mrs. Granger consumed alcohol that night, a breathalyser test was carried out on both,” Farrow said, his eyes falling down to a report he held in his hands. “Results show that Mr. and Mrs. Granger both ingested profuse amounts of alcohol.” A copy of the report was given to the judge and jury. “What happened next, Mr. Black?”

“I heard screams and cries. Mr. Lupin and I ran up the stairs and the bedroom door was locked so I kicked it in. I saw Mr. Granger to be on top of Hermione and she was begging him to stop. I wasted no time in pulling him off her, and for Hermione’s safety, I punched him in the face breaking his nose and the second time I punched him I knocked him unconscious. When the threat was contained I carried Hermione out of her bedroom and into the guest bedroom. Mr. Lupin photographed her injuries and the police arrived. I stayed with Hermione whilst she gave her statement and once I’d given mine, I carried Hermione to the ambulance and accompanied her to the hospital, and I later took her to her new home. I am now Hermione’s legal guardian until she reaches the age of eighteen.”

“Why were you made her legal guardian?”

“I have known Hermione since she was fourteen. She is family and I am both physically and financially able to support and care for her. She deserves better and I can give it to her. I can protect her and keep her safe. After all she has done for me, the least I can do is keep her safe.”

“What is your opinion of Miss. Granger?”

“Bossy, know-it-all, bookworm are words that spring to mind, but she is kind, caring and selfless. There is not one mean bone in her entire body. She has to be bossy otherwise my Godson would fail out of school,” he chuckled. “She cares for him and keeps him on track with his school work. She’s incredibly intelligent, scarily so in fact.”

“Thank you, Mr. Black.”

Finally on the stand was Hermione.

She sat in the witness box fiddling with the edge of her suit jacket and with dried tear stains on her cheeks.

“Miss. Granger, please state your date of birth for the jury.”

“Please don’t call me that,” she whispered. He nodded understandingly. “My birthday is the 19th of September, 1979.”

“I’m going to ask you several questions that you will find difficult to answer, but take your time and we’ll move at your pace.” Hermione nodded. “When did the abuse start?”

“The earliest I can remember, I was four. I had an older brother named Kevin, he was six when he died and I had just turned four.”

Everyone but Sirius appeared surprised at the news. Fred and George had been listening attentively, they felt sick at what they’d heard so far, and they were stunned at the news that Hermione had once had a brother.

“Kevin was diagnosed with Leukaemia as a small child and he lost the fight when he was six. My parents blamed me for his death. They used to say that it was my fault my brother had died. They would say that the family was perfect until I came along, that I had ruined everything and they wished that it had been me that had Leukaemia and died. I think Kevin was diagnosed sometime after my first birthday, I’m not sure though, I was too young to remember.”

“What happened after your brother passed away?” he asked her softly.

“My parents started drinking, which led to them yelling at me, which then led to them hitting me. Most of the time it was just my father because my mother would be passed out drunk, but she sometimes she’d hit me. I remember hiding under my bed and crying. I remember every kick, every slap and every punch. I remember every bruise, every cut and every broken bone. I remember the pain and begging them to stop hurting me.” She had tears falling down her face.

“We have evidence of your father sexually abusing you, when did that start?”

“He started touching me when I was eleven before I left for Hogwarts. I love my school. I spend months at a time there. It’s where I am safe and my parents can’t reach or hurt me.”

“What did he do? What did he make you do to him?”

“He started touching me and he would get mad when he saw that I was crying and begging him to stop. He would hit me or hold me down. He made me do stuff,” she whispered, her eyes locked on the grey carpeted flooring and tracing the faint patterns that remained after years of foot traffic.

“What do you mean by ‘stuff?’ Can you elaborate?”

“He would... he would make me... touch him. He would make me... use... use...” she started sobbing uncontrollably, and Mrs. Weasley was crying silent tears as she clung to her husband, whilst Professor McGonagall appeared to be trying to keep back her own tears. 

“Take your time Hermione,” he said kindly.

Hermione wiped away her tears with her uninjured hand, but more continued to fall. She took a deep breath and forced her breathing to calm.

“He would make me...” she couldn’t stop crying and Sirius could tell she was on the verge of a breakdown.

He excused himself from the room and when he returned it was in the form of a large black dog. The dog ran and jumped the gate before running to Hermione where he jumped the witness stand, landing beside her. He stood up on his back legs with his paws resting on her knees and he licked at her cheek. Hermione put her good arm around him and cried into his fur as he made a distressed whining sound.

It was clear that every occupant of the room was surprised when the large dog had entered the room, before heading straight to Hermione.

“How did that get in here? Will someone please remove the dog?” The judge spoke and a security guard approached the witness stand.

“No, please, let him stay, he won’t hurt anyone, I promise,” Hermione said quickly looking up at the judge with begging eyes. One look at her face had him agreeing to her plea.

“Very well, the dog may stay,” he agreed.

Hermione removed her grip on Padfoot and he sat beside her with his head resting on her knees and Hermione scratched behind his ear, allowing her something to focus on rather than reliving the memories.

“He would...” Hermione took a calming breath and with the support of Sirius, she was able to reign in her emotions. “He would make me use my mouth on him. He used to say if I was a good girl he wouldn’t hurt me. He didn’t like it when I cried.”

“Has he ever raped you?”

“No, he said he wanted to wait until I was older, until he had more to work with and my body had matured. Apparently turning fifteen was when I became old enough. The evening Sirius and Professor Lupin found me wasn’t the first time he had tried to rape me. He’d tried three times before. The first time was in April and I was home from school for the Easter holidays. He’d drunk too much and I was able to fight him off, but the next day he hit me with his belt.”

“The second time was after I returned home for the summer. He was interrupted when a neighbour knocked on the door inquiring about the noise coming from the house. He made the excuse of my screams and cries being caused by the fact I was just having boy trouble, that I was angry and distraught as I’d just broken up with my boyfriend. I had a cat named Crookshanks. My father killed him in front of me for making too much noise and alerting the neighbours. He snapped his neck. I buried him in my back garden and that earned me another beating.” Her tears were flowing down her face uncontrollably, but her voice didn’t waver this time.

The judge handed her a tissue and she quietly thanked him, whilst looks of sadness, disgust and horror filled her vision from the others in the room.

“The third time he tried he was almost successful, but my parents were having a dinner party that evening and the guests had arrived and were knocking on the door. The fourth time was when Sirius pulled him off me.”

“I hate to ask this, but I must. Despite the situation, I would like you to answer me honestly for the judge and jury.” Hermione nodded understandingly. “Did you want your father to act sexually towards you? Did you want it to happen?”

“No, a father is supposed to protect his daughter from harm. He’s supposed to warn potential boyfriends off and threaten actual boyfriends. He’s supposed to offer to hurt any boy that breaks his daughter’s heart and supply terrible dad jokes and comforting hugs. He is not supposed to hurt her. He is not supposed to be the one she is afraid of. I am terrified of my father. I have nightmares every night about what he did to me, what he does to me. He had rules and if I broke them he would punish me with a beating and starvation. I begged him not to hurt me, but he did. He didn’t care.”

“Why did you never mention this to anyone?”

“He told me that if I didn’t do what he wanted or if I told anyone he would kill me. I believed him because he’s what terrifies me most. He killed my cat in front of me, there was nothing stopping him from killing me too. I wished he had. I wish he had killed me so that I wouldn’t have to live with the memories. So that I wouldn’t have to live with what he did to me. He’s ruined my life and I will always be affected by what he’s done to me. To what extent I don’t know, only time will tell.”

“Hermione, may we see your injuries first hand? We have photographic evidence and medical records and scans, but will you please show the jury what your parents have done to you?”

Hermione looked over at the judge and he nodded in allowance to the request.

Padfoot removed his head from her knees so she could stand from her seat. She removed her jacket and they could see the hand-shaped bruises on her arms and wrists and that her right arm in a sling.

“Your stomach and back?”

Hermione turned around and with her left arm, she lifted the back of her blouse to show her back covered in bruises. She then turned around and showed them her stomach and she heard gasps and intakes of breath.

“Thank you, Hermione,” he said softly.

Fred and George wasted no time in rushing out of the room and towards the nearest bathroom. They each entered a stall and threw up. They removed the Disillusionment Charms and washed their mouths out with water from the sink before casting cleaning charms on their mouths and splashing their faces with water.

They looked at each other. They were both pale and had horrified looks on their faces.

“I can’t believe it,” Fred said quietly.

“I can’t believe they actually treated her that way. I can’t believe her father made her...” George trailed off, looking as though he were going to be sick again.

“How did no one notice? This has been going on for years.”

“Because no one was paying attention.”

“I can’t believe she wished she was dead.”

“We keep an eye on her,” George said and Fred nodded in agreement.

They recast the Disillusionment Charms and made their way back to the courtroom and retook their seats.

“Hermione, you have no living relatives, are you comfortable with Sirius Black being your legal guardian until you reach the age of eighteen.” Hermione nodded instantly. “He is able to care for you physically and financially.”

“I trust him,” she whispered.

With that said the judge gave a recess of forty-five minutes, Padfoot left the room and returned as Sirius.

“You did very well, Kitten,” Sirius said and he hugged her as she started crying again.

They led her out of the room and they sat in a waiting room with a cup of tea. When recess was up they headed back into the courtroom and the trial continued.

After a few more questions, the judge had the jury retire to the jury room to work on the verdict. The results came back within an hour, which was either very good or very bad, considering the deliberation hadn’t taken long.

“Defendants please stand,” the judge said and Mr. and Mrs. Granger both stood. He looked to the jury. “Charges brought against Richard Granger include sexual abuse, physical abuse, neglect towards a minor and animal cruelty. How do the people of the jury find Mr. Granger?”

“An all accounts, guilty,” the head juror spoke, his voice clear and confident and Hermione cried into Sirius’ chest with relief.

“Was this a unanimous decision?”

“It was, Your Honour.”

“Charges brought against Jean Granger include physical abuse and neglect towards a minor. How do the people of the jury find Mrs. Granger?”

“An all accounts, guilty.”

“Was this a unanimous decision?”

“It was, Your Honour.”

“Thank you for your time,” the judge said to the jury. “All that’s left to do is the sentencing. Mr. Granger, in addition to twenty-five years to life in prison, you will be put on the sex offenders registry.” Mr. Granger looked outraged. “Mrs. Granger, your sentencing is sixteen to twenty years in prison with a chance of parole after fourteen years served.” To make the decision final he banged his gavel. “Court adjourned.”

People started talking and everyone hugged Hermione.

“THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT, YOU BITCH!” Mr. Granger yelled as he was being dragged away.

“YOU KILLED HIM!” Mrs. Granger shouted as she was being led away. “YOU AND THAT WITCHCRAFT OF YOURS! YOU’RE A FREAK AND YOU KILLED HIM! YOU DESERVED EVERYTHING YOU GOT! IT SHOULD’VE BEEN YOU!”

“Don’t you dare listen to her,” Sirius said. “Your brother’s death was a tragedy, but you didn’t kill him. Cancer did.” Sirius held her face in his hands so she had no choice but to look at him. “There was nothing you could’ve done and it wasn’t your fault,” he assured. She nodded, but tears continued to fall.

They left the courthouse and went into an alleyway where they all apparated to Grimmauld Place with Sirius side-along apparating Hermione. They entered the house and Mrs. Weasley quickly went to work on making lunch and Hermione made her way to her bedroom without being seen by the other occupants of the house.

Dumbledore sent his Patronus to Madam Pomphrey informing her that Hermione was cleared to be magically healed and she floo'd into the house, heading straight to her. Sirius was with her and Madam Pomphrey already knew what had happened to Hermione because Dumbledore had told her, but that didn’t stop her from gasping when she saw her injuries first hand.

She rushed forward whilst running off diagnostic spells. She handed Hermione a Pain Potion, before casting several Episkeys and giving her some Skele-Gro Potion for her ribs and arm. She put some Murtlap Essence on her lip to heal the cut and she put some paste over her bruises. The paste wouldn’t heal them, but they would help accelerate the healing process and take away some of the pain. She left it for Hermione to put on her bruises once every two days until the bruises cleared up.

With that, she left the room and spoke to everyone to let them know of Hermione’s progress and she left afterwards.

Sirius smiled softly. “Do you want to go down for lunch?”

“No, I don’t want anyone knowing I’m here. They’ll ask questions and I don’t want anyone knowing what happened. They’ll treat me like a china doll; I don’t want anyone’s pity. What happened in my life happened and I don’t want to be reminded of the fact that I was treated that way.”

“We can give you a cover story,” Sirius suggested.

“No, they won’t believe it, especially since I still have my bruises and they’ll take a couple of weeks to heal, even with the accelerating paste and they can’t be explained away. They know someone’s been staying in here and they’ll figure out that it was me all this time. I’ll stay in here, at least until Harry arrives and I feel comfortable being in the presence of everyone,” Hermione answered.

“That could be till mid-August,” he frowned.

“Then I’ll stay here till mid-August. I’m not leaving, I need time to process everything that’s happened so I can put the past behind me and move on. I don’t want to flinch every time someone walks past me or accidentally brushes up against me. I don’t want to be scared when someone hands me a fork or leans over me to grab something from the table.”

“If anyone can put their past behind them, it’s you,” he said and Hermione smiled. “Now, we need to visit Diagon Alley. I need to add you to the Black vaults and...”

“No, Sirius, I don’t need your money.”

He frowned. “You’re getting access to the Black vaults whether you like it or not. And we need to sign some paperwork. I’m your guardian in the Muggle World, not yet the Wizarding World. But that should be sorted by the end of the week.”

“I’m not fifteen.”

“What? Yeah, you are; you were born in ‘79; that makes you fifteen.”

“I’m actually sixteen, on my next birthday I will be seventeen but the Ministry won’t see it that way. They won’t accept me as being legally of age because they don’t know that I’ll be seventeen.”

“How will you be seventeen?” he asked confused.

“Time turner,” she shrugged and his eyes widened. “Third year, it’s how we saved you. Dumbledore allowed me to use his personal time turner my third year because I was taking twelve classes, well thirteen except I dropped divination. I needed it to get to my lessons because I had multiple lessons at the same time on the same day. A side effect of using a time turner is that you age. I used the time-turner to go back hours multiple times a day and those hours added up. So I’m actually sixteen, soon to be seventeen.”

“You’re full of surprises,” he chuckled.

~000~000~000~

Fred and George came down the stairs and walked into the kitchen making it look as though they had been at Grimmauld all morning, instead of sneaking out and following them to Muggle London. They thought they had gotten away with it, except once their mother looked at them, her eyes widened.

She immediately noticed the difference in them when they entered. They were loud and joyful as usual, except their eyes held something; they held a sadness, a look of knowing of the horrors in the world.

“Fred, George, I need your help with something in the living room. It won’t take a moment,” she said, seeing they were about to argue with her and then she walked out of the kitchen and into the living room. She put up a Silencing Charm when the twins entered after her.

“You know,” she stated with narrowed eyes.

“Know what?” they asked angelically.

“You know very well what, you think of lying to me again and you’ll be cleaning this entire house by yourself and without the aid of magic.” They sighed, knowing there was no point in denying it further; they’d been caught. “How?”

“We heard you talking when Sirius brought Granger back and we heard him tell you about her injuries. He mentioned a trial and we knew that no one would tell us what had happened, so we disillusioned ourselves and followed you to Muggle London,” Fred said sheepishly when his mother glared at them.

“We sat in the back and watched the trial. We were horrified by the way her parents spoke about her. We never knew she had a brother that died,” George spoke.

“I don’t think anyone did, she’s never really mentioned her family before,” Mrs. Weasley spoke with tears once more gathering in her eyes. “And now I know why.”

“It made us sick to our stomachs and when she showed her injuries, we had to leave and find the nearest bathroom.”

“Hearing her talk about how she wished she was dead, it wasn’t right. She looked so defeated and nothing like the bossy, know-it-all we’re used to. She didn’t deserve what happened to her,” Fred spoke.

“No one deserves what she went through, and for her to sit and talk about what they did to her in front of strangers and friends shows tremendous courage and strength,” Mrs. Weasley said proudly.

“She’s a Gryffindor,” they replied.

“We’ll keep an eye on her.” Mrs. Weasley raised an eyebrow at George’s statement.

“At school, she isn’t going to tell anyone what happened to her and we’ll be the only ones that know,” Fred clarified. “We’ll watch her, make sure she’s coping.”

“It all makes sense now. Why she was such a stickler for the rules,” George said.

“Yeah, because she was punished when she didn’t follow them. She was conditioned to do as she was told,” Fred said sadly.

“She may need you boys to make her laugh, but don’t be obvious about it,” Mrs. Weasley said.

“We’ll get right on it,” they replied.

“She isn’t coming out of her room. She told Sirius that she doesn’t want to have to explain herself to anyone and that everyone will discover it was her that had been hidden in the room for so long. Her arm and ribs have been healed, but there is nothing that can be done for her bruises. They’ll take weeks to heal and she isn’t leaving until Harry arrives from The Dursleys.”

“That’s not for another month,” George all but yelled in surprise.

“It’s her decision. Don’t tell anyone what you know; you weren’t supposed to witness the trial. And when she does emerge from her room, do not treat her any differently because she’ll know.”


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trigger Warning! Although nothing is described in detail, sexual and physical abuse and attempted rape is mentioned and implied, at least for the next couple of chapters.
> 
> Page Count: 14

**Hogwarts - Friday 1st December 1995**

Fred and George were running through the halls being chased by Filch.

“I’ll get you for this, Dumbledore will have no choice but to expel you!” he yelled.

They laughed at him.

“You’ll have to catch us first!” George called over his shoulder with a laugh.

“And prove that it was us!” Fred yelled.

“I know it was you! You’re the ones that locked Goyle in my office under the influence of a Love Potion!”

Fred and George laughed louder and almost ran into some students, who moved out of the way and continued walking as if nothing had happened. They were used to the Weasley Twins being chased down the halls by Filch, so it wasn’t a new occurrence, therefore most just stepped out of the way without a second glance.

“Whoever did that has style, but it wasn’t us!” George yelled.

Fred and George nodded to each other and then separated. Fred ran down the right corridor and George the left. Since Filch couldn’t be in two places at once, he was forced to only chase after one of them. They quickly ran through the secret passageways they had memorised in their first year and they owed it big time to The Marauders.

They met up on the third floor and ran into the library. They knew of a secret room hidden in the back of the library that no one knew about and it’s where they hid out when Filch was out for their blood. They quickly made their way through the stacks and to the very back of the library where it was darker and most students didn’t go. They found the portrait they were looking for and Fred ran his finger over the spine of the third book in the portrait. A door appeared and they rushed inside and closed the door behind them and they laughed.

They immediately stopped laughing when they heard a noise, a whimper. Their bodies moved towards the sound and they stopped at the side of the table and their eyes widened.

Hermione Granger was asleep on her side and surrounded by books. She had taken off her robes and v-neck jumper and they were draped over one of the chairs at the table. Her shoes had been kicked off and they were under the chair, her hair was behind her, fanned out on the floor and her head rested on her arm, with the other arm close to her stomach on the floor and her legs were bent slightly. Her skirt had ridden up somewhat, showing the skin between the edge of her skirt and grey knee-high socks. Several of the books were missing from the bookcases that lined the walls and it was obvious they were the books that surrounded Hermione.

They heard another noise and this time it was louder than before and Hermione shifted in her sleep.

“No, please don’t. I’ve been good, please don’t hurt me,” she whimpered. Fred and George looked at each other with wide eyes. “I’m sorry, I promise I won’t do it again, I’ll be good,” her crying grew louder and then she started shifting once more. “No, No, NO. STOP, PLEASE STOP!”

Fred and George wasted no time in rushing forwards and they dropped to their knees in front of Hermione, seeing the tears falling from her closed eyes and sliding down her cheeks.

“Granger,” Fred said, but she didn’t wake. “Granger,” he said louder with the same results.

“Hermione,” George said and he reached out and touched her hand that was resting on the floor. Her eyes flew open and she sat up so quickly they fell backwards and landed on their arses in shock.

Hermione was crying and she gripped the necklace that fell a couple of inches below her throat. It was a thin silver chain and it had a heart-shaped pendent sat in the centre of it. Blue sapphires were embedded into the silver of the heart. Sirius had given it to her the day she left for Hogwarts, it was an early birthday present and he’d hired someone to place Protective Charms on it, as well as a less known Communication Charm.

All Hermione had to do was touch the necklace and think something and Sirius would be able to hear her in his thoughts since he had gotten himself a ring that was connected to her necklace. Where Harry had the two-way mirrors, she had her necklace, so they were both able to contact him when they needed him. Since returning to school for her fifth year, she used the necklace every night when she had a nightmare and Sirius would calm her down until she fell back asleep.

 _‘Sirius!’_ Hermione thought.

 _‘It’s alright, Kitten, they can’t hurt you anymore. They’re gone from your life and they can’t hurt you. You are safe from them,’_ he said softly. Her breathing slowed. ‘ _Now, have you been working on breaking the rules?’_

_‘Yes, I locked Goyle in Filch’s office whilst he was under the influence of a Love Potion.’_

She could hear his barking laugh in her mind and it made her smile. _‘That’s brilliant! You’re definitely a Marauder. Keep working on it and remember...’_

_‘Marauders don’t get caught, I know, Padfoot.’_

_‘How is your research coming? Have you been doing the exercises I taught you? The ones for calming your nerves and the ones for...’_

_‘Yes and research is going well, I should be ready by the Christmas holidays.’_

_‘We’ll see Kitten, until next time.’_

She gripped her necklace tightly and the twins watched as slowly her tears stopped and the look of fear faded from her face. She took a deep breath and removed her hand from her necklace and she opened her eyes.

Fred and George were looking at her worriedly.

“Granger, are you...”

“I’m fine, Fred,” she sighed. “Just a bad dream, but what do you expect when there’s a war going on around you and The Ministry is too far up themselves to notice.” Despite knowing she was lying he chuckled at her response.

Like they had promised their mother and themselves, Fred and George made Hermione laugh at least three times a week and they made sure to be subtle about knowing her secret. She hadn’t told anyone about her parents or Sirius being her guardian, and during the summer holidays, Hermione had stayed true to her word and didn’t leave her room until a week after Harry arrived at Grimmauld after he was attacked by dementors.

Sirius, Remus and his parents made it look as though she’d just arrived when in reality she had been there just as long as they had. They watched as Sirius and Remus covertly took her food during meal times and continuously brushed off Ron and Ginny’s suspicions. They watched as Sirius tiredly sat at the kitchen table obviously being up all night with Hermione when she’d had a nightmare and they couldn’t blame her for having them. The time after her ‘arrival’ the twins had taken to subtly spending more time around her, just enough to notice but nothing to be suspicious about.

They acted cluelessly and they were overjoyed when they pulled an honest smile and a pure laugh from her, rather than the fake ones she gave the others. When questions were asked about Hermione’s summer the twins would cleverly turn the conversation elsewhere and change the topic of discussion and Hermione always looked to be relieved for their intervention, whether she knew they had done it purposely or not.

When the time came to return to school and they arrived they kept an eye on her. They watched as she ate all her meals, completed her homework, argued with Ron and studied and they were satisfied that she was dealing, with the exception of the nightmares they knew she had. From what they could tell, she had put on weight, she was keeping up with her school work, and helping others with theirs, she often hid away in the library or she had her head buried in a book when she was sat in the common room by the fire. She appeared to be doing well. 

“Are you sure...”

“Yes, George, I’m perfectly fine,” she said sighing and rubbing her hands over her face, wiping away the tears and tiredness. “What are you doing here? How did you find this place?”

“We should ask you the same questions,” they replied with a grin.

“I accidentally found this place in my first year and I use it to study in and hide away from the world.”

“And by the world you mean Ronnikins,” Fred said. Hermione nodded instantly, not bothering to deny it and they chuckled.

“Why is he such an arsehole?” she asked and they laughed at her in shock for her use of language.

 _‘She’s been spending too much time with Sirius,’_ they both thought amused.

“Because he’s Ron,” they replied with a shrug.

“What did he do this time?” George asked and he crossed his legs in front of him and Fred mimicked his actions.

“He insulted me because I refused to do his potions essay for him, then he went on to say that I should ask one of the girls for advice on hair charms so that I could sort out my ‘bird’s nest’ as he put it and then he asked me if my demonic cat was sick of me because he hadn’t seen him since I got to Grimmauld,” she said, a sad tone to her voice.

Fred and George ground their teeth; they would have to teach their little brother a lesson.

“Ron’s an idiot,” George stated.

“And there is nothing wrong with your hair, don’t listen to him,” Fred said and he lifted his hand and gently tugged on one of her curls. He noticed how soft her hair was. George eyed his brother silently, watching as he looked peaceful playing with one of her curls.

Fred and George had both noticed a change in Hermione before they had even learned of Hermione’s parents abusing her. They had noticed it the summer before her fourth year and their sixth year. At the world cup specifically. They noticed that her hair had lost some of its frizz, but she still had her wild and untameable curls, her chocolate brown eyes shone with emotion and her light pink lips had looked soft and plump. She had been developing feminine curves and her tanned skin seemed to glow in the sunlight.

After the World Cup, they talked and they both realised that they had a slight crush on their little brother’s best friend. The thought didn’t repulse them since triad relationships did happen in the Wizarding World. They were uncommon but they were seen. The last known case had been their twin Uncles Fabian and Gideon Prewett, for who they were named after, but they along with their girlfriend died in the first war. Despite realising their feelings for the beautiful witch, they decided not to act upon them out of respect to Ron since they knew he fancied her, whether he admitted it or not.

Then the Yule Ball came around and Hermione showed up on the arm of _the_ Viktor Krum, looking mesmerising in her periwinkle dress and her hair tied back in an elegant knot. Their crush for her grew, as did their jealously at seeing her with Krum. They were so jealous that they spiked his drink, not that they’d admit to that.

They pushed their feelings for her down for the rest of the year only for them to resurface stronger than before when they saw her at the trial. So scared, so broken, so... not Hermione. Not the Hermione they knew her to be, or the one they had watched grow into the young woman she was today.

Fred and George shared a nod and decided to talk later that night.

“So, why are you here and how did you find this room?” Hermione asked again.

Fred continued to play with one of Hermione’s curls, but she didn’t seem to mind. It was either that or she hadn’t noticed.

“We followed Peeves here one night and he showed us how to get in. This room isn’t on the map for some reason.”

“This room was built after the map was created so it doesn’t show up on it. It’s why I come here; Harry and Ron can’t find me.”

“We come here to hide out too,” George said.

“So you’re on the lamb then?”

“What?” they asked confused.

“Muggle expression, you’re on the run? From Filch I’m guessing, what did you two do this time?” she asked chuckling.

“Nothing,” they replied and she looked at them sceptically.

“Honestly, we didn’t do anything. Not this time at least,” George said chuckling.

“Apparently someone locked Filch in his office with a Love Potion affected Goyle and he reckons it was us. It wasn’t, but whoever did it is a genius in my book,” Fred said.

A guilty look crossed Hermione’s face, they caught sight of it and gaped at her.

“You did that?” they said in shock.

“What? No,” she scoffed and bit her lip nervously.

The twin’s faces split into grins.

“Oh Merlin, you did, didn’t you? You’re responsible for it,” George spoke and they laughed at her guilt-ridden expression.

“What did Filch do to you to deserve that?” Fred asked in awe and still playing with one of her curls. She either hadn’t noticed or didn’t mind, either way, Fred wasn’t complaining.

“He called me some names I didn’t appreciate and Goyle tried to hex me when my back was turned. I was brewing Amortentia for Snape for extra credit and needed to see if I’d brewed it correctly. Fortunately, my targets had already been chosen,” she said sheepishly and they stared in wonder.

“That’s brilliant! How come we never thought of anything like that?” George asked Fred with a silly grin.

“Because we’re not The Brightest Witch,” Fred said fondly and Hermione blushed.

“I can’t believe you pranked a member of staff _and_ a Slytherin _and_ you’ve been giving us grief all term over our products,” George said.

“That’s because I don’t agree with you testing them on helpless first years, they have no idea what you’re capable of.”

“So it would be okay to test them, just not on first years?” Fred asked cunningly.

“Well yes... no...”

“Too late, we have to take your first answer,” Fred grinned cheekily and she scowled.

“Fine, but leave the first years alone.”

“Deal,” the twins agreed.

“So what are you doing that had you falling asleep surrounded by books?” George asked, changing the topic of discussion.

Hermione sighed. “Research,” she answered.

“For?”

“The D.A. Harry may lead the sessions, but I research everything. I make lesson plans and I write all his speeches for him, he’s not very literate, he gets tongue-tied and he struggles to put his words together when he’s nervous.”

The twins frowned at that news. Harry was the one who was supposed to be in charge of the D.A. He was supposed to be doing everything, not Hermione.

“Can we ask you a question?” Fred asked and she nodded. “Harry can cast a Patronus, can you?”

“Yes,” she said warily, eyeing them strangely and wondering where it was they were going with the line of questioning.

“What is it?” George asked intrigued.

“I’m not telling, but you can guess if you’d like and when you get it right I’ll tell you. But you’ll never guess it.”

“Challenge accepted,” they grinned.

“Can you teach us how to cast a Patronus?” Fred asked hopefully; if she taught them it meant he could spend more time with her.

“Harry’s going to teach you after Christmas.”

“We want you to teach us, you’re a much better teacher than Harry, far prettier too.” She blushed and the corner of their mouth’s twitched.

“I’m not pretty,” she mumbled but they heard her and frowned. “But if you want me to teach you then I will.” They grinned.

“We should get back to the common room,” Fred said. “It’s almost curfew,” he spoke.

They stood up and Hermione flicked her wand and all the books returned to their rightful places on the bookcases. Hermione slipped on her shoes, stuffed her jumper into her bag and put on her robes. She put her bag on her shoulder and picked up the books on the table that she’d already checked out earlier that evening.

Fred took her bag and George carried her books for her.

“I can carry them myself,” she said.

“What? And have a beautiful young lady such as yourself think that we aren’t gentlemen?” Fred said.

“Never!” George spoke sounding scandalised.

“I’m not beautiful,” Hermione muttered and they frowned before they walked to Gryffindor Tower making comfortable small talk as they journeyed.

The common room was full of students. It wasn’t a school night so everyone tended to stay up late and have sleep-ins in the mornings since breakfast usually ended later at the weekends. When they entered Ron and Harry looked up from their game of wizards chess by the fireplace.

“Oi, Hermione, come here!”

“I’m not a dog, Ronald Billius Weasley,” she growled and the twins smirked, knowing their little brother had earned himself a visit from Hermione Granger’s temper.

“Start lessons tomorrow?” the twins asked together. Hermione sighed and nodded.

“Great, it’s a date,” George said and they both winked at her as her cheeks burned red. Before she could protest they waltzed out of the common room and up the boy’s staircase.

~000~000~000~

“We need to talk,” they both said at the same time as they entered their dorm room.

There was no need to worry about who may overhear them since they had a dorm room to themselves and have since their second year. The other boys in their year refused to room with them, even their best friend, Lee, and as a result, they had been given a room to themselves.

There were two double four-poster beds with Gryffindor red bedding with a lion printed in the centre of it, and white sheets covered the mattress. The beds were against the back wall with a bedside table each and three windows sat behind them, one on either side of the bed and one in-between the two. There were two desks against the wall opposite which sat their school books. There was a large cauldron in the corner of the room and two wardrobes on the right wall, one on either side of the door. On the left wall, there was a large fireplace with a red rug in front of it and the door to the bathroom.

Fred sat on his bed and George did the same.

“So, Granger?”

“Yeah, Granger,” Fred sighed and he ran his hand through his hair.

“We gave Ron a year, he did nothing but insult and upset her. You and I both know they would never work out. Even if he puts on his big boys pants and admits he fancies her.”

“She’s been through a lot,” Fred said.

“And we know. We’re the only ones that know.”

“Not because she told us. We followed them and snuck into a trial where we listened to her talk about the abuse her parents put her through.”

“We could protect her. We’ll treat her like she deserves. We can make her laugh. She smiles more when she’s around us, more than she does anyone else,” George spoke.

“Other than Sirius,” Fred corrected.

“He doesn’t count. He’s practically her Father; they’ve become a lot closer over the last few months. Everyone can see that. Well, except Harry, Ginny and Ron.”

“That’s because they’re clueless”

“Anyway, we could be good for her.”

“We don’t even know if she likes us,” Fred pointed out.

“She smiles, laughs and blushes around us.”

“The only person who has taken an interest in her was Krum. She’s been physically and sexually abused for years. She doesn’t know how to react around those she doesn’t hate or consider family.”

“She’s not as innocent as she’s led people to believe,” George said.

“Can you blame her? She’s probably terrified of having a relationship. She may have been made to do things but I’m betting she’s still a virgin. You heard her, her Dad tried to rape her George. Four times! It doesn’t matter that he failed. There’s not a chance in hell she would have sex with someone after the way he treated her, let alone a relationship. Her childhood was taken away from her by her parents and then by this war.”

“We’ll treat her right, we won’t force her into anything and we’ll move at her pace. She’s in control. She didn’t seem to mind when you were playing obsessively with that curl of hers.”

Fred refused to blush. “Her hair’s so soft,” he sighed like a lovesick fool and he flopped onto his back as George smirked.

“She’s comfortable around us; she knows we won’t hurt her.”

“That could change if we make a move.”

“We’ve already got a date with her,” George said, his smirk widening. “Great job asking if she would teach us to cast a Patronus, by the way. Besides, we won’t act any differently or at least too differently than we have been. We’ll spend more time around her and subtly show her our intentions so that she can either acknowledge us or ignore us. Relax o’ twin of mine, everything will work out. We’ll get the girl and we’ll make her happy.”

“I hope you’re right.”

~000~000~000~

**Saturday 2nd December 1995**

Hermione was sat enjoying the quiet. There weren’t many people in the great hall with it still being early and everyone was still in bed. She sat at the Gryffindor table in her regular seat, with a book propped up against a jug of pumpkin juice and a strawberry in her hand.

Fred and George made sure to rise particularly early that morning. They realised that the earlier they met with Hermione, the more time they had to spend with her and put their plan into action.

They entered the great hall and slid onto the bench on either side of Hermione, despite the many empty seats that had to choose from.

“Morning,” they chirped.

“Morning Fred, George,” she greeted, not taking her eyes off her book and they shook their heads in amusement.

“What are you reading?” George asked leaning closer.

Hermione slammed the book shut. “Nothing,” she said quickly.

“Something she doesn’t want us to see, George?”

“I wonder what it could be, Fred.”

George went to pick up the book to get a closer look at the title, but Hermione flicked her wand and her book was banished to her room.

“Oh, she’s good,” Fred said with a chuckle and George mock glared at her.

“What are you doing up so early?” Hermione asked.

“We thought we’d get an early start on those lessons you promised us.”

“Don’t you boys have anything else to do?” she asked.

“Nope, we’re all yours for the day,” Fred spoke, before taking a bite of toast and winking.

“And what a lucky lady she is, anyone would be grateful to spend the day with us,” George tried to keep a straight face but failed.

“How long do you want the lesson to be?” Hermione asked rolling her eyes.

“Trying to get rid of us, eh?” Fred said amused.

“I just want to know how long I’ll have to keep my wand out of reach. It wouldn’t do good for me to be hexing you both.”

“We love our women feisty.”

“That we do, George.”

“And beautiful -”

“- And intelligent -”

“- With chocolate brown eyes,” George winked at Hermione.

Hermione was blushing furiously and her gaze was locked on the bowl of strawberries in front of her, refusing to look up. The twins smiled at each other before going back to their breakfast.

After a short while, Hermione stood to leave and the twins stood with her.

“You want to start now?” They nodded. “Seriously?” They nodded again. “Fine,” she huffed and stomped away and they chuckled.

They followed her to the Room of Requirement and when they entered it was to see the room they used for the D.A meetings. One wall completely covered with floor to ceiling mirrors, there were practice dummies in the corner of the room out of the way and no windows, but a large chandelier that lit the room. 

Hermione imagined three large armchairs and they appeared in the centre of the room in Gryffindor red. Hermione walked over to them and sat down in one of them and the twins followed suit. They were arranged in a triangle formation so they could see each other. Hermione had on a pair of blue skinny jeans, her comfortable and worn white converse and since it was winter and cold in the castle, an overly large grey hooded jumper.

She pulled her legs up onto the armchair and crossed them getting comfortable. She gave the twins a look and they copied her movements, awkwardly pulling their legs up onto the armchair and crossing them. They were both wearing dark jeans, white trainers and their Weasley jumpers. Hermione knew instantly that they’d swapped jumpers as they liked to do often, so George’s currently had a big yellow ‘F’ whilst Fred’s had a big yellow ‘G’.

“Take out your wands.”

George bit back the innuendo that was threatening to bubble out of him and Fred looked at him with a knowing smirk. They took out their wands and before they even saw it coming, Hermione grabbed them both and removed them from their hands and put them behind her on the armchair.

“Why did you do that?” they asked confused and shocked at how fast she’d moved.

“Because you don’t need them. We’re not doing any practical magic today. Today is all about relaxing and finding what makes you happy. What makes you feel good and makes you enjoy life.” They raised an eyebrow at her. “So, close your eyes and take a deep breath.” She glared at them when they didn’t and they immediately did what she said and she smiled to herself. “Find a happy place. I don’t know what it is and I don’t care what it is. Just allow your body to relax and feel yourself filling with serenity.”

They stayed in silence for a while, until Hermione had them do some breathing exercises and then the silence was broken.

“Where did you learn these breathing exercises?” Fred asked, feeling calmer than he’d had in a long time.

“Sirius taught me them over the summer.”

“You two have gotten quite close,” he commented.

“Well it’s hard not to, he’s been good to me.”

“You mean because of your parents?” George said, being completely relaxed until he realised what he’d just let slip.

His eyes flew open and Fred was staring worriedly. Hermione looked panicked and fearful.

“You... you... you know?” she growled and the twins nodded slowly.

Suddenly rain started pouring in the room, thunder crashed and lightning crackled in the air.

The twins looked up as their clothing and hair was immediately soaked and they started sticking to them. They looked at Hermione to see a look of anger and fear on her face. A look they had never seen so raw before.

 _‘She wasn’t doing this, was she?’_ they thought fearfully.

“Granger!” George shouted over the thunder to be heard.

The thunder crashed louder and the lightning let off sparks, if it wasn’t for the torrential rain they would’ve set the armchairs ablaze.

“HERMIONE!” Fred shouted. Hermione looked up at him and everything stopped. The rain, the thunder and the lightning.

She no longer looked angry, she looked defeated.

“That’s why you’ve been treating me differently. You being nice to me, spending more time around me, talking to me more, giving me compliments, asking for lessons. It’s all because you pity me. You learned about my parents and you feel sorry for me. Well, you know what? I don’t need your pity. I’m putting what my parents did to me behind me. I’m learning to deal with it and I have people helping me get better,” she spoke and then she looked down and fiddled with her hands.

Fred and George took a moment to digest what had just happened. They looked at each other and nodded.

They got up from their seats and moved until they were kneeling down in front of Hermione and they each took one of her hands in theirs, noticing the way she stiffened at the contact.

“We don’t pity you,” George said.

“In fact, we're in awe of you,” Fred added. Her head snapped up to look at them. “You were able to come away from your parents alive and victorious. You beat them and they will be in prison for a very long time for what they did to you.”

“How do you know that? How did you find out?” she asked quickly.

They looked sheepish. “We saw you, the night you were brought to Grimmauld and we overheard everyone talking. We decided to go to the trial because we wanted to know what was going on, so we disillusioned ourselves and followed you. We were there for the trial,” George spoke. They watched as tears fell down her face.

“You heard everything. You heard what they said, you heard what I said and you saw me.”

“We had to leave for the bathroom after you showed your injuries. Why didn’t you tell anyone?” Fred asked softly and with his free hand, he reached up and wiped away her tears.

“Because I couldn’t. He threatened to kill me. He killed Crookshanks. If I did tell someone I would’ve been taken away and put in a foster home or an orphanage. I have no other relatives. I am a witch, how was I supposed to hide my things from people? How was I going to keep my secret and stop people from finding out? How would I do my summer assignments? No one in the Wizarding World would take parental guardianship of Harry Potter’s best Muggleborn friend and if they did it may have been a Death Eater. People don’t care for Muggleborns. And before you say your parents would, I know they would, but they already have seven children. One more would add to their workload and stress and I wouldn’t put that on their shoulders. And Harry needed me. Harry comes first.”

“Harry’s muggle family might be arseholes that made him sleep in a cupboard, but your parents abused you. Physically and sexually, Hermione,” George said gently. “Harry’s problems could be put aside for a moment to help you. I can’t believe he never noticed, I can’t believe no one noticed.”

She shrugged. “When I returned to school after the holidays I would cover my injuries and my uniform covered my weight problems until I was healthy again. The first spell I learned to cast here was Glamour Charms. I don’t want anyone to know, if you tell anyone...”

“We won’t tell anyone,” they promised.

“How is Sirius helping you?” Fred asked. “We know he’s your guardian and you spent a lot of time with him, especially when you wouldn’t come out of your room.”

“He bought me this necklace,” she said. She removed her hands from theirs and gripped the necklace. “He had it made for me. It has Protection Charms on it and a spell that allows us to communicate. It’s connected to Sirius’ ring and we can talk to each other in our thoughts when I hold my necklace.”

“Why would you need that? For the nightmares?” George asked.

She nodded. “They’re not nightmares though. They’re memories. I blocked out a lot of what he did to me through my younger years, but speaking at the trial brought everything back and I can’t sleep. Sirius talks to me and calms me down after I’ve woken up. He’s also helping me deal with the past.”

“How?” they asked and they retook a hold of a hand each, but she didn’t notice.

“There was... there were rules I had to follow. If I didn’t I was punished. I was beaten and starved. It’s why I don’t like breaking school rules; I remember what happened to me when I broke the rules at home. Sirius is helping me by slowly breaking some rules. That’s one of the reasons why I pranked Goyle and Filch. I know what people think of me, but I don’t care. I have a valid reason for being the way I am, and I am working on it. Not for them, but for me. I don’t like what they turned me into. I flinch when people say my last name because it reminds me that I’m related to them. I have to remind myself to breathe when someone bumps into me in the hallways. I almost have a panic attack when someone leans over me at the table to get the bread rolls.”

“Why not tell people so they understand?” George asked.

“I don’t want people to look at me in pity. I don’t want people to look at me in disgust. I don’t want people to go around calling me a slut and saying that I deserved everything that happened. If Malfoy found out about this it would give him a boatload of ammunition. If Ron found out he would use it against me whenever we got in an argument.”

“He wouldn’t do that,” they said and she raised an eyebrow.

“Okay, maybe he would,” Fred corrected, not sounding pleased in the fact he knew his brother could be cruel.

“I’ve had it with Ron,” she confessed. They looked at her strangely. The last they knew she had a crush on their little brother and a little spark of hope hit them. “I can’t deal with him anymore. He’s just as cruel as Malfoy and I’m tired of fighting with him. I‘m tired of him hurting me and not being there when I need him. I’m only putting up with him for Harry’s sake. The war is here and Harry needs both of us,” she spoke.

“I thought you fancied him,” Fred said, sounding confused.

“No, maybe in my third year for a few months I did, but that was it. I’m not even sure if I still have brotherly feelings towards him anymore. Anyway, I don’t want to be treated any differently and you have been treating me that way. So stop it,” she scowled.

She then looked at them and for the first time, she noticed they were soaking wet and when she looked down at herself she was too. She frowned.

“You’re wet,” she said in surprise and then she used her wand to dry them all. “How did that happen?”

Fred and George looked at each other. “Well, you caused a thunderstorm, with extra rain, extra thunder and extra lightning,” Fred spoke and her frown deepened.

“Again,” she whispered, but being so close to her they heard.

“Again?” they repeated. She looked up at them.

“It’s happened before. This is the fourth time since fourth year actually,” she said quietly.

“It could be accidental magic,” Fred said, though he didn’t know if he was trying to convince her or himself. “In times of great anger or fear magic can act up.”

“Four times, Fred?” she asked, looking vulnerable.

“Okay, so it’s not accidental magic,” George spoke. “It’s probably nothing to worry about. You’re a powerful witch; we’ve known that since meeting you.”

She nodded slowly. “Okay, now back to Patronus lessons.”

They reluctantly let go of her hands and moved to sit back on their armchairs, where they continued with the breathing exercises and meditation.

~000~000~000~

“She doesn’t have a crush on Ron,” Fred said with a goofy smile and he jumped onto the edge of his bed. “We’re in with a shot.”

“Course we are, we’re The Weasley Twins. Who’s going to turn us down?” George bragged.

“She would.”

“Yeah, she would,” he laughed.

“Have you noticed she can tell the difference between us?” Fred said with a wide smile.

“It’s probably just a coincidence.”

“No, it’s not,” Fred shook his head.

“We’ll have to test that theory of yours then,” George said.

“And we’ll have to be careful; you saw what she did. She said she’s done it four times. You and I both know that’s not normal. Do you think Sirius knows about this?”

“We’ll ask him when we go to Grimmauld for Christmas.” Fred nodded in agreement. “Time to put the plan into action; first order of business, flirt with her and find out if she likes us. Operation woo the witch and win her heart is a go.”


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trigger Warning! Although nothing is described in detail, sexual and physical abuse and attempted rape is mentioned and implied, at least for the next couple of chapters.
> 
> Page Count: 15

**Hogwarts - Sunday 3rd December 1995**

“Morning, Granger,” the twins chimed as they took the seats available on either side of her at the empty Gryffindor table.

“Morning Fred, George,” she said looking at each of them with a slight nod of the head as she said their names.

“Actually, I’m Fred and he’s George,” George said, his pointer finger swivelling between his twin and himself.

“Nice try, Fred’s on the left and George is on the right,” she replied, not bothering to play into their game.

“Nope, you’re wrong”

“No, I’m not, so stop being an idiot,” she said rolling her eyes and Fred smirked at George, giving him an ‘I told you so’ look.

“Do you want to give us another lesson today?” Fred asked.

“Don’t you have anything better to do?”

“No,” they replied instantly.

“Nothing’s better than spending the morning with a beautiful and scarily smart brunette witch.”

Hermione blushed and stood from the bench and made her way out of the hall. Fred and George chuckled, grabbed some food to go and followed after her.

“You’re going the wrong way,” George said from his place walking on her right. He turned around so he was walking backwards and slightly ahead of her.

“No, I’m not; I know this castle like the back of my hand.”

“We’ve been sneaking around since first year,” George pointed out.

“So have I and I didn’t have a magical map to help me,” Hermione argued.

“She’s got you there,” Fred said chuckling.

“And I found the same room in the library you did and I didn’t have Peeves show me it was there.”

“She’s right George; she knows this place just as well as we do, if not better.”

Hermione walked into the library and the twins followed her curiously. As she walked past the stacks she flicked her wand and several books began floating behind them. When she reached the portrait she ran her finger down the spine of the third book and opened the door. She entered and when the twins followed her she closed the door when the books had finished passing through the entrance and they set themselves down onto the table.

She sat at the table and the twins followed her actions. It was warm in the room so Hermione removed her hooded jumper and chucked it to the end of the table. She stood up from the table to get a book from the bookshelf and the twins’ eyes rounded on her and their mouths dropped.

She was wearing a Gryffindor red cashmere v-neck jumper, with black skinny jeans and a pair of black knee-length boots. They had noticed sometime between their fifth and sixth year, but they had no idea the kind of figure she was hiding under her clothes. She had tanned skin that seemed to glow in the light of the candles that lit the room. Long legs that seemed to never end, a beautiful hourglass figure, perfectly round breasts which they guessed to be at least a c-cup, maybe bigger, and shiny thick mahogany ringlets that fell down to the middle of her back. They felt their mouths go dry and they looked at each other with the same thought. _‘Fucking hell Granger, warn a guy would ya?’_

Every guy had their own idea of a perfect woman, and whilst some may not agree with them or they may not see Hermione the way they did, the twins didn’t care. To them she was perfect.

They snapped out of their stupor when she sat down at the table. She scribbled something down on some parchment and ripped it in half and gave a half each to Fred and George. She then separated the books she had collected and gave half to Fred and the other half to George.

“Where did you get that parchment from?” Fred asked.

“I keep some in here, along with muggle pens. Madam Pince is the only other person to know about this room and she allows me to use it whenever I want and she doesn’t bother me. I give her a list of books at the beginning of every term and she fills the shelves with the books I want in here for that term, so I don’t have to go through the stacks in the library. I can come straight here and everything I need is already here. It’s my own personal study room,” she shrugged and they stared in surprise. “Anyway, the books, read them, I’ve already given you the page numbers.”

“You’re making us read?” George said disbelievingly. “I thought we’d be practising today. You had us doing those weird exercises yesterday.”

“Yes, reading,” Hermione said defensively and glaring at George.

Fred hit himself in the head. One difference between him and his brother was that George was always the first one to put his foot in his mouth. As proved the day before when he revealed they knew about her secret.

“I made you do those breathing exercises yesterday because they help you to clear your mind. They help you to focus and control your magic. When you are focusing you can sense your magic within your blood flowing through you. I wanted to see if you were ready but you weren’t.”

“Ready for what?” Fred asked but she ignored him.

“And today you are reading because I want you to be able to understand the theory behind the Patronus. If you understand the theory, it will be easier for you to do the practical aspect and conjure a Patronus. How do you think I learned to cast a Patronus? Harry didn’t teach me. Why do you think I am so advanced in lessons? It’s because I understand the theory because I actually study. What do you know about the Patronus Charm?” she asked George and Fred sniggered when he saw the look of shock on his twin’s face.

“It’s used to fight dementors,” George answered.

“And?”

“And? And what? That’s all it’s used for. Well apart from sending messages to others of course.”

“That’s why you need to read the book.”

“What else is it used for?” Fred asked intrigued, she turned to look at him.

“It isn’t just used to fight off dementors and communication. It’s also used as a form of protection against others, they can’t do any serious damage but they can be used as a distraction. It’s also used as a defence against lethifolds....”

“What’s a lethifold?” Fred asked confused.

“It’s an extremely dark magical creature, like a dementor. It has a Ministry rating of five and it’s a carnivorous beast that prefers the taste of human flesh. They have an appearance that resembles a black cloak, however, it gets thicker when it‘s recently eaten a victim. They find their victims at night when they’re sleeping and they suffocate and digest their victims whilst they’re still in their beds.”

“Lovely,” George said sarcastically and Fred smothered a laugh.

“Luckily, lethifolds are a very rare species and are only found in the tropics.”

“Awesome,” George said and once more Fred smothered a laugh.

She glared at him. “Some people use their Patronus as a form of comfort in times of loneliness and grief. The Patronus is a part of who you are. It’s a part of your soul and magic. You also can’t become an Animagus unless you can conjure a Patronus. Once you have conjured a Patronus you have a sense of self because you know what animal relates to you. The Patronus is also one of the purest forms of good magic there is and that’s why it’s so difficult for people to cast that they don’t even attempt to. It’s the equivalent to a unicorn’s horn or a jar that contains a ray of light from a blue moon. Those that practise dark magic religiously are not able to conjure a Patronus. Any dark witch or wizard that attempts to cast a Patronus will instead conjure maggots that will devour the spell caster. This is why it’s required that you be able to cast a Patronus before you join The Order. It ensures there are no dark magic practitioners within the Order and people are more likely to be trustworthy. Once someone learns what your Patronus is, they have a better understanding of your character traits and personality.”

“Wow,” Fred said looking at her in awe.

“How d'you know that? That it’s a requirement to join the Order?” George asked.

“I asked Sirius and he confirmed it, well, it's not so much a requirement but a advantage.”

“Why would he do that?”

“After this year, I’m joining,” she shrugged.

“Hate to burst your bubble, Granger, but you have to be seventeen to join,” George said.

“Actually, I am seventeen.”

“What?” they both said confused.

“I’m seventeen, not sixteen. I’m of age and I can do magic out of school, but the Ministry doesn’t know,” she shrugged.

“How?” they asked quickly.

“I used a time-turner my third year; I was taking twelve classes, it was thirteen but I dropped divination and that stick insect of a Professor is useless,” she snorted. “It’s going to rain... yeah, thanks for that Professor, if there weren’t windows in this room I wouldn’t have noticed. You will die... really? Magnificent prediction Professor; thank you for telling me that. I had forgotten that I’m human and that everyone dies. Again, I didn’t need you to point out the obvious, but well done. You’ll have the grim following you. Actually, it’s a large black dog in Animagus form, but marvellous prediction. O for effort. You almost got one right there.” Fred and George burst out laughing.

“You really don’t like divination or Trelawney do you?” Fred said through laughter.

“Whatever gave you that idea?” she asked with a serious look on her face, which only made them laugh harder and they slumped over in their chairs gripping their sides.

She watched them amused and it took them a few minutes to calm down.

“So you’re of age?” Fred asked.

“Yes, I’m probably older than you, but I can’t be bothered to do the math.” They gawked at her. “Right, now, read the books I gave you.” They stared at her as she picked up the book she had retrieved for herself.

She kicked off her boots, pushed the chair away from the table and lifted her legs and crossed them on the chair and she placed the book in the crook of her crossed legs. She leaned over and grabbed some parchment and a muggle pen which she slipped behind her ear and she rested the parchment against the open page and she began reading. She had her left arm resting against the armrest and her head was supported by her hand.

The twins watched her as she seemed peaceful and then turned to their own books. Every now and then the twins would look up at Hermione to see her chewing on her lip or the end of the pen subconsciously. Although they knew it was an innocent habit of hers, they couldn’t help but notice how arousing it looked.

An hour later Hermione put her book, parchment filled with notes and pen down on the floor and stood up. She stretched and then did a little jig and shook out her hands to get the blood flowing back to her numb limbs and then she walked back over to one of the books shelves and browsed its contents.

“How’s it going boys?” she asked whilst she walked along the length of the bookshelves.

“Did you know there’s two forms of the Patronus? Non-corporeal and corporeal. The non-corporeal Patronus is that of a white ball of light that doesn’t take shape and it can be used to slow down a dementor but not defend against it. The corporeal Patronus is the most difficult to cast and it takes on the form of an animal and it acts as a shield and it will attack the dementors,” George spoke and Hermione turned around and leaned against the bookshelf and she smirked at the excitement on his face.

“It’s rare for a Patronus to take on the form of a magical creature, but it does happen. For example, Andros the Invincible was said to have conjured a Patronus the size of a giant, so his Patronus was presumably a giant. And everyone knows Dumbledore’s Patronus is a phoenix. Charlie’s is a dragon and Bill’s is a griffin. It’s even rarer for a Patronus to take on the form of an extinct animal. This happened in the case of Hedley Fleetwood and his corporeal Patronus form was a woolly mammoth,” Fred spoke looking as equally excited.

“In order to conjure a Patronus you must be in the right mindset, believe in your ability to cast the charm and have a strong enough memory,” George said.

“Yeah, and a conjured Patronus can remain active as long as the caster is focusing on them. If they’re not given a task, they are said to revert to their natural behaviour and follow the caster around until given an order or the caster loses concentration,” Fred spoke.

“You enjoyed learning about the Patronus charm, didn’t you?” she asked smirking.

“No,” they said quickly and she laughed and headed back to the table and she sat down in her chair.

“Do you boys think you understand the theory behind the Patronus Charm?”

They nodded.

“Yeah, I think we’ve got it, it makes it seem a lot easier than it is.”

“That’s a good thing. And that’s why I made you read those books.” She grabbed her jumper and pulled out a bag from the pocket and she removed a strawberry pencil and took a bite before offering one to Fred and George. They took one and took a bite.

“What are these? I’ve never had one before,” George asked.

“They’re really good,” Fred commented.

“Strawberry pencils, they’re a muggle candy,” she informed them.

“Where did you get a muggle candy from?” George asked.

“The Muggle World,” she replied slowly and Fred chuckled.

“When were you in the Muggle World? You’ve been here since September and the only time you left Grimmauld was for the trial and Diagon Alley.”

Hermione froze.

“Well would you look at the time, I best be going, I have a lot of things to do. Busy, busy, busy, lesson’s over for the day.” She put on her shoes, grabbed her jumper, flicked her wand sending all the books back to their correct places and her notes to her room and ran out of the library.

Fred and George looked at each other with raised eyebrows and then they ran after her. She beat them back to Gryffindor Tower and ran to her room.

Due to the situation regarding her parents, McGonagall had given Hermione her own room at the top of the girl’s dormitory floors. They didn’t want Hermione waking anyone up with her nightmares or accidentally hurting anyone if they startled her. Plus, she was able to study and read whenever she wanted without people complaining.

In her room, she had a queen-sized bed with white bedding and a Gryffindor red blanket with a gold lion printed in the centre. She had two windows on either side of her bed and a dark wooden bedside table. She had a desk against the left wall that was piled high with books, as well as a dark wooden wardrobe and a bookcase on the wall opposite the bed. The door to the bathroom was on the left wall, as was the dark wooden chest of drawers and she had a rug under the bed, and a fireplace with a white rug in front of it against the right wall.

She flopped down on the bed and sighed.

“Got to be careful with what you say, Hermione, they can’t know. If they do you lose your advantage,” she said to herself before she sighed and got up.

She changed into a pair of comfortable grey tracksuit bottoms, well worn white trainers and a white spaghetti strap top and she put on the matching grey hooded tracksuit jacket. She pulled her hair up into a messy bun, put her wand in the waistband of her tracksuit bottoms and checked the time. She had twenty minutes.

She quickly headed down to the empty common room and left out of the portrait and she made her way to the Room of Requirement. Unknown to her, two red-headed twins had seen her leave and dressed differently than before, so they followed her. They had lost her after leaving the east wing of the castle so they looked around for an hour, before hitting themselves in the head realising that she was probably somewhere people wouldn’t be able to find her.

They headed to the Room of Requirement and asked for the door that led to Hermione. When they entered they pulled their wands and were about to rush forward when they saw something they definitely weren’t expecting.

There was a man dressed in a white t-shirt, grey tracksuit bottoms and white trainers. He was six-foot-one, had blonde hair, green eyes, tanned skin and it was easy to see he was muscled and very handsome. His and Hermione’s jackets were tossed to the side on the floor.

The man had Hermione pinned to his chest, her back to him and her arms were pinned down by her sides. Suddenly Hermione lifted her foot and stomped down on the man’s foot. It caused him to grunt in pain and he stumbled back slightly. Hermione then flung her head back and head-butted him and he quickly let go of her. She grabbed his arm and then promptly flipped him over and he landed on his back.

The twins stared in shock at what they’d just witnessed. Compared to the man, Hermione was seven inches smaller and a good five stone lighter; and she’d kicked his arse!

“Sorry, Jason,” Hermione panted and she helped him stand up.

“Don’t be, it’s my job to teach you how to defend yourself and you’re perfect at it now. I get paid to allow you to injure me,” he chuckled. “Besides, there’s no blood and nothing’s broken, I’m fine.”

“You think I’ve improved?”

“From your first lesson? Massively. You can easily defend yourself wherever you are now. You could probably teach everything you’ve learned to other women. If I was teaching you Karate and not self-defence, I would say you’d be a blue belt by now.”

Hermione raised an eyebrow. “Blue belt, isn’t that the fifth belt out of the nine you are awarded?”

“Yeah,” he nodded.

“But from what I’ve read, it takes two years to achieve that belt.”

“Not necessarily. It can take anywhere between ten months and two years. It depends on how often you have lessons and how often you train. We’ve been having lessons six days a week, you’d easily be a blue belt,” he shrugged. “Now break’s over; we have another hour before the lesson’s over and I have to head back into the Mugglesville.”

She shook her head at him. “Mugglesville? Come up with that on your own did you?” she teased.

“Hey, not everyone can be The Brightest Witch,” he protested.

“Not everyone can be The Brightest Witch,” she mimicked him in a whiney tone and he narrowed his eyes at her.

He lunged forward but Hermione ducked and rolled out of the way. He went to grab her but she grabbed his wrist, pulled him closer, lifted her leg and kicked him in the side of the knee and it caused him to fall to the ground. She let go of his wrist and did a spinning kick, kicking him in the face and he fell completely to the ground.

“Fucking hell!” The twins whispered, turning to look at each other with identical looks of shock.

Jason looked up at her in surprise and she grinned.

“I never taught you to do that.”

“Sirius bought me some books on muggle martial arts and I’ve been studying them and working on some of the simpler moves in my room.” He laughed at her and got back up onto his feet. “You teach Karate, how did you not see that one coming?” she asked amused.

“You took me by surprise, I wasn’t expecting you to have that move in your repertoire, especially since I hadn’t taught you it and you didn’t have any training before I became your teacher,” he said and she chuckled at him.

Hermione saw he was bleeding and found her wand on the floor and quickly healed the cut on his face.

“Okay, let’s go again. I want to see what else you’ve been practising that I didn’t teach you.”

“I don’t want to hurt you,” she teased.

“Oh, don’t worry; I’ve got my guard well and truly up after that.”

They circled each other and he lunged at her, Hermione expecting it ducked down and slid through his open legs and stood up. He turned around looking confused and then he laughed at her pleased expression. He stepped forward and she stepped back. He grabbed her wrist and she bent her elbow until her forearm touched his and he was forced to let go because his hand couldn’t bend the way she was forcing it to. She then grabbed his shoulders and pulled him forward and he bent over slightly. She lifted her leg and kneed him in the chest, before hitting him in the back with both hands clasped together and she stepped away and he fell to the floor and coughed.

“Merlin, you’re quicker than you look. Stronger too.” He stood up after getting his breath back.

“Are you letting me win?” Hermione asked with narrowed eyes.

“Why would you think that?”

“You’ve been doing Karate for twenty years and you have your own school. You’re holding back because you don’t want to hurt me.”

“You’re right; I don’t want to hurt you.”

“I’ve been hit with a belt, a baseball bat and I’ve had a hammer thrown at me,” she said seriously. “There’s nothing you can do to hurt me as badly as that.”

He frowned. “Maybe you’re right; I imagine you have conditioned yourself to have a high pain threshold.”

She nodded. “I can’t learn if you hold back.”

“Fine, I won’t hold back too much.”

They circled each other and he lunged towards her, but she jumped back and did a back handspring, followed by a backflip and landing perfectly on her feet. He stared at her before laughing and the twins were still stood in front of where the door used to be, with their jaws practically hitting the floor and their eyes wide. They realised that Hermione Granger was full of bloody surprises.

“Where did you learn to do that?”

“Sirius hired a gymnastics instructor to teach me, he said something about speed and flexibility improving my chances of defending myself if I were to lose my wand in a duel.”

He laughed at her amazed. “Well, that’s another reason not to hold back too much.”

He turned around and did a spinning kick except Hermione stepped out of the way so he didn’t hit her in the face and she blocked him with her hands, catching his foot. She pulled on his foot and he lost balance and fell over.

“Okay, I’m getting sick of you knocking me on my arse.”

She laughed at him.

Suddenly he swiped her leg out from under her and she stopped laughing as she let out a little squeak and fell to the floor landing on her back; luckily the floor had been padded so it didn’t hurt too much.

“Okay, I can see why you don’t like it,” Hermione said with a groan, sprawled out on her back on the floor. They both got up.

Jason pulled Hermione to his chest so her back was to his front and he had a hold tight hold on her. The twins watched and they felt a wave of jealousy hit them at how close he was to Hermione and with her held tightly to him.

Hermione thought for a moment; in classes with Jason she wasn’t supposed to use the same defensive manoeuvre more than once since he liked to know that she could remember everything he’d taught her. So she thought of something he hadn’t seen from her before.

She brought her hands up and gripped his forearms, she pulled them away from her body as far as she could and then she slipped down through his arms into the splits, she moved her leg and swept it around and she caught his leg and he fell to the ground and onto his back.

“I’m guessing that was payback,” he said amused and then he got back up off the floor.

He pulled Hermione to him and once more had her trapped against his chest, his front to her back. The grip he had on her was far tighter than the last time, he had a strong stance so stomping on his foot wouldn’t work and she couldn’t head butt him because he moved his head to the side.

“What do you do?” he asked her.

She quickly thought of a solution to get out of his hold. She leaned forward as far and fast as she could, forcing him to bend with her. She then stood up quickly and kicked her feet off the floor. Jason had no choice but to lift her from the ground to keep balance and when he did, she kicked her legs and flipped them over his shoulder. His arms twisted and his knees buckled to the ground and she got out of his hold and landed on her feet behind him.

“I think it’s safe to say, Hermione, that this was our last lesson.”

“I don’t think...”

“No, Hermione. You don’t need any more lessons. Between your gymnastic lessons, your self-defence lessons and the martial arts you’ve been studying yourself, you are more than ready. Once you learn these things you never forget, it’ll be your reflex reaction now. I feel sorry for the poor bugger that creeps up behind you,” he chuckled.

He picked up his jacket from the floor and slipped it on and picked up his wand.

“I’ll let Sirius know that you no longer require lessons. I bet you twenty galleons that he can’t wait to see what you’ve learned. He’ll ask you to demonstrate on someone.”

She laughed at him, knowing he was right.

“Yeah, he will, probably Moody or Snape.”

“If you need anything just send me an owl.” Hermione nodded and smiled. “I’ll see you later, Hermione.”

“Be careful out there, Jason,” she said. Hermione turned to face the wall and Jason made his way to the door.

He noticed Fred and George and he froze and stared at them both before he shook his head chuckling and he walked past them and out the door that reappeared.

They waited for the door to disappear before they stepped forward.

“Bloody hell, Granger,” George said and she jumped and turned around with wide eyes trained on the twins who were smirking.

“You’re bloody dangerous with a wand and now you’re dangerous without one too!” Fred looked amused. “You don’t do things in halves do you?” he chuckled.

“How long have you been here?” she asked.

“Since you head-butted that poor sod,” George spoke amused, tipping his head in the direction of the door Jason had just left out of.

Hermione sighed and then three armchairs appeared, set up the same as the day before and she sat down. Fred and George followed her actions and each sat down.

“Something you want to tell us?” Fred asked.

She groaned. “Only if you don’t tell anyone.” They nodded their agreement. “I was sick and tired of flinching every time someone touched me. I was tired of being scared and weak,” she could see that Fred was about to protest. “No, Fred, I’m weak, without my wand I’m useless and defenceless. I couldn’t fight off my Father because I wasn’t strong enough or fast enough. I told Sirius and we talked for a while. We came up with the idea of me possibly learning a martial art, the only problem being they are taught by muggles. The Wizarding World may have heard of them, but there is no one who teaches them. So instead Sirius hired Jason, he’s a Half-blood and he grew up in the Muggle World. He’s twenty-four and has been doing Karate for twenty years. He has his own school in the Muggle World, but he lives in Wizarding London.”

“He’s been teaching me self defence. My lessons with him started one week after the trial. Every night Sirius and I would leave the house when everyone was in bed and we’d meet up with Jason at his school in the Muggle World. I’ve been having lessons with him six days a week and between four to five hours a session. Dumbledore gave permission for Jason to come into Hogwarts once I started back at school so I could continue with my lessons. He comes here four times a week and we train for about two to three hours. The other days I train by myself.”

“About a week after I started my lessons with Jason, Sirius hired a Muggleborn gymnastics instructor for me. He said I was doing well in classes with Jason, but if I had more flexibility and speed I would be better. So Sirius and I met with Sally in the Muggle World five days a week after my lessons with Jason and we’d train for three hours. She comes here three times a week for four hours, but Thursday was her last lesson with me. She said I’m better than most of her students she’s had for years and I don’t need any more supervision. I just have to keep practising and if I need anything all I have to do is owl her. Sirius also bought me some books on martial arts and I’ve been teaching myself the basics.”

They stared at her.

“More reason to be terrified of you,” George said seriously and she snorted at him.

“Just don’t ever sneak up on me, I almost punched Ron in the face for doing that the other day, I barely stopped myself in time.”

“Shame you did.”

“I know,” she sighed in agreement and they laughed at her. “But then we’d have a whining Ron on the loose and I’m not dealing with that.”

“Why haven’t you told anyone about this?”

“It’s an advantage. If people presume I’m weak they’ll underestimate me. If I lose my wand in a duel I can still be of some use. And I wanted something for myself. Something I wouldn’t have to share with others. I like doing it and my gymnastics. It allows me to focus on something else other than the war, school or Harry. After each training session, I always feel accomplished and relaxed. My magic feels calm and I have complete control over it,” she shrugged.

“He’s right, Sirius is going to want you to demonstrate what you’ve learned,” Fred said.

“Yeah, she can do it on Ron,” George suggested and they laughed.

~000~000~000~

Later that night Hermione was doing her prefect rounds. She was once again dressed in her boots, black skinny jeans and red cashmere v-neck jumper with her grey hooded jumper over the top since it was freezing in the castle.

She hated wearing such tight and expensive clothing but Sirius had insisted, saying it would help her move on. She didn’t understand how and after three days of arguments she had finally given up.

She had started on the seventh floor and made her way down. All she had left to do was the dungeons. She made her way through the dark maze and if it wasn’t for her memorising the Marauder’s map she would be completely lost. She knew that if she took a left, then a right, then another right and a left, followed by a right, she would find herself at the entrance to the Slytherin common room.

She heard voices and made her way towards them with her lit wand in hand. She turned the corner to see three third year Slytherins huddled together, and doing God knows what.

“Okay, boys, break it up. It’s past curfew and I really don’t want to have to give you detention, because honestly, I can’t be arsed.”

One of them sneered at her. “I’d watch the way you speak to your superiors, Mudblood!”

She raised an eyebrow. “First of all, I’m four years older than you, legally of age and an adult. Second of all, I don’t take kindly to threats. Third of all, I know spells that would make you wet yourselves in fear. I was casting a Patronus by the time I was your age. And lastly, you’re a Half-blood, so there’s no point in throwing around that blood supremacy shite. So boys, kindly leave and head back to your common room. I don’t want to have to explain to Professor Snape why I gave you three detention, because as I said before, I can’t be arsed.”

They stared at her defiantly.

“Very well then,” she sighed. She pointed her wand in their direction and they immediately ran down the corridor and towards their common room. Hermione chuckled and shook her head.

She turned around and began walking back towards the entrance to the dungeons, she was finished with her rounds and she was exhausted. She couldn’t wait to get back to the privacy of her room and fall into bed.

She was almost at the entrance when she was stopped.

“Mudblood,” the familiar voice of Draco Malfoy sneered, she sighed and turned around.

“Yes, my fellow prefect and follower of Professor Dumbitch.” She could tell she took him by surprise with her comment and the corner of his mouth twitched involuntarily and she felt smugness fill her at his subconscious response.

“I hear you’ve been ordering about your superiors, that’s a dangerous game to play,” he said whilst approaching her and he stopped in front of her, so she was forced to look up at him.

 _‘Merlin, Malfoy, when did he get so tall?’_ she thought.

“No, I simply asked them to return to their common room since curfew is in place and I couldn’t be arsed issuing them a detention. And they are not my superiors, not only am I legally of age, I know for a fact at least one of those boys was a Half-blood. Now if you will excuse me, I’m exhausted.”

She turned around and began walking away.

“What do you mean you’re legally of age?” Hermione ignored him. “Don’t ignore me you filthy Mudblood!” Malfoy spat.

Hermione’s instincts told her to turn and cast a shield and she did, easily blocking the spell that was sent her way. Malfoy looked surprised at her reflexes before shaking his head and he continued throwing spells at her, all legal and taught within the first four years of school.

Hermione really was exhausted and she was getting bored. With that, she dropped her shield and with the flick of her wand, she sent a Flipendo at him and her actions were so fast, he never saw it coming. She was incredibly grateful to Sirius for allowing her to take gymnastics and self-defence during the summer term. Not only did it improve her speed and flexibility, but it improved her response time and reflexes, it helped keep her fit and healthy and it allowed her to think more creatively and it calmed her magic and made her feel in control.

Malfoy was thrown back a couple of feet and he landed on his backside. Hermione had held back with Malfoy, not wanting to hurt him and give him ammunition to use against her with Umbridge. It was a minor knock that would probably hurt a little, but wouldn’t cause any serious damage, maybe a bruise at best.

“Pleasure as always, Malfoy,” she bowed in a very Fred and George like manner and then turned around and waltzed out of the dungeons as she made her way to Gryffindor Tower.

Unknown to her, two read heads had heard that she was to patrol the dungeons and couldn’t help feel worried. So they had disillusioned themselves, placed Silencing Charms on their feet and they proceeded to follow her, ensuring she would be kept safe. They had seen that she could take care of herself without a wand, and they had seen glimpses of what she could do in the D.A. But that didn’t stop them from worrying; she would be heading into Slytherin territory and everyone knew those bastards didn’t play fair.

The night had been rather uneventful; Hermione caught and cautioned four people before they reached the dungeons. One first year Gryffindor who had gotten stuck on the moving staircase, two fourth year Hufflepuffs snogging on the second floor and a third year Ravenclaw looking for the kitchens, and after Hermione escorted the young boy to the kitchens -much to the surprise of the twins- she sent him back to the Ravenclaw common room with an arm full of beverages and snacks floating behind him, thanks to Hermione’s spell work. The twins grew more anxious the closer they got to the dungeons and as a precaution, they gripped their wands and continued to follow her. 

When they came across the three Slytherins they wanted nothing more than to hex the little shits for speaking to their Hermione that way. Yes, they were already considering her theirs, even though she hadn’t agreed to it yet. They held back and watched as Hermione dealt with the cheeky sods amusingly and then she turned to leave.

They were beyond furious when Malfoy tried to hex her, but before they could step in, Hermione was blocking his attempts, and with one flick of her wand, she had him landing on his arse. They had to smother their laughter otherwise they would’ve given themselves away.

They followed her back to Gryffindor Tower. She arrived well before them and when they entered they looked around and when they saw the coast was clear, they removed the charms they’d placed on themselves and then headed towards their room.

“What were you two doing out after curfew?”

They jumped at the sudden noise in the deserted common room. They slowly turned around to see Hermione sat on the armchair with her arms folded, her left leg hooked over her right leg and her eyes narrowed on them.

 _‘Where the hell did she come from?’_ they both thought.

Their faces lit up to show the perfect picture of innocence and Hermione snorted.

“You do realise that you broke school rules and as a result you must face the consequences, right?”

Fred looked like he was about to argue and explain where they’d been, so George elbowed him subtly. Fred grunted and glared at his twin, but George gave him a look that said ‘shut up and let’s see where this goes.’

They turned back to Hermione.

“So, you have detention, Wednesday night at seven o’clock. Meet me at the stairwell of the Astronomy Tower,” Hermione spoke and then she stood up and waltzed off to the girl’s staircase.

“What the hell did you do that for?” Fred hissed, once Hermione’s retreating figure had disappeared from his sight and hearing.

“Do you really think explaining to Granger that we were following her because we didn’t think she could look after herself would be a good idea?” George asked with a raised eyebrow. Fred glowered. “Anyway, we’ve got a date now.”

“We’ve got detention,” Fred corrected.

“Yes, all alone with Granger and in the Astronomy Tower too, no less.”

Fred’s face mirrored the grin that was on George’s.

“We should sneak out after curfew more often if we get detention with her every time we do it,” Fred spoke and George couldn’t agree more.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Page Count: 11

**Hogwarts – Wednesday 6th December 1995**

Fred and George finished with their dinner and made to leave the great hall to head to the Astronomy Tower for their detention with Hermione.

“Where are you two off to?” their friend Lee Jordan asked with a raised eyebrow. “Plotting mischief on some unsuspecting Slytherin?”

The twins grinned. “Nope, got a date with a beautiful brunette,” George spoke smugly.

“Actually, it’s detention,” Fred corrected with a chuckle.

“Alone with a beautiful brunette.”

Lee chuckled at the two. “And who is this poor beautiful brunette that has to suffer your company?”

The twins gasped and held their hands against their heart in mock hurt.

“We’re a delight to be around, you’re just jealous that we’re ditching you for someone better looking,” Fred spoke.

Lee laughed and shook his head at them. “Shove off!”

“Gladly, we wouldn’t want to keep the little witch waiting.”

They waltzed out of the great hall.

“Merlin help the girl that’s caught their attention,” Lee muttered.

The twins made it to the Astronomy Tower a few minutes after seven and Hermione was sat on the window ledge waiting for them. When she heard the door go she looked up at them.

“You’re late, are you trying to gain yourself another detention?”

“If it’s with you, then sure,” George winked and she blushed, but despite that, she was still sure to scowl at him.

They looked at her and noticed she had changed out of her uniform. She was wearing blue high waisted skinny jeans, white converse, a white t-shirt and a long, grey, knee-length woollen cardigan. That’s when they noticed it was cold in the tower and they hadn’t brought their cloaks.

Hermione noticed them shiver and she pulled her wand and cast Warming Charms over them and they immediately warmed up, they looked at her gratefully whilst she muttered “boys” under her breath and rolled her eyes.

“Okay, detention is fairly simple. Professor Sinistra needs an updated map of the stars for her younger students. Your job is to use that telescope,” she pointed to the telescope behind her. “And map out as many stars as you can see, accurately and neatly. She wants it to look colourful and eye-catching, something to brighten up her classroom. So I’m going to help you. I have plenty of parchment, you will draw one constellation on each piece of parchment and I will colour it in. Once we’re done, I will use a Sticking Charm to piece together the parchment and it will be put on the wall in the Astronomy classroom, almost like a mural, got it?”

They nodded. “So our detention is to draw and for you to colour in?” Fred said amused.

“You want to clean the second floor girl’s bathroom? Moaning Myrtle’s flooded it again,” she asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Nope, we’ll do this,” they said quickly.

“How long is this detention?” Fred asked.

“Three hours, why, planning on trying to convince me to allow you to leave early?”

“On the contrary, I was going to convince you to let us stay longer,” George spoke with a grin and she rolled her eyes.

They made their way towards her, took the parchment from her and the pencil, ruler and protractor which they looked at weirdly before they moved over to the telescope and the small table nearby.

They set to work and Hermione conjured a cushion to sit on and a small table to rest on. She picked up the pack of muggle felt tip pens and colouring pencils and tipped them onto the table.

Fifteen minutes later Fred handed her the first constellation he had drawn. With her colours and a ruler, she went over the lines with a colouring pencil, before colouring over the dots that joined together and adding in the name of every star in the constellation in a coloured felt tip pen. When George handed her the next one she set to work repeating the process in different colours and they worked in silence.

Two hours later the three of them somehow ended up sitting around the table on the floor, and instead of drawing the constellations like they were supposed to be doing, they were drawing horrifically bad pictures and laughing loudly.

“Okay,” Hermione spoke, colouring in one last part of her picture with her tongue sticking out of the side of her mouth in concentration. “What do you think?” She put down her colouring pencil and held up her drawing for them to see.

“What is it?” Fred asked, his head cocked to the side and his eyes squinted, and his twin mirrored his actions.

“It’s Ron.”

They burst out laughing. “It looks more like Goldilocks has been dragged through a hedge backwards, been attacked by a hippogriff and then fallen into the Black Lake,” George said through his laughter.

“Exactly, I’m going to put it on the fridge at Grimmauld,” Hermione said and they laughed louder. “Your turn,” she grinned and put her picture back on the table.

“Prepare to be blown away,” George said. He then lifted up his drawing for Fred and Hermione to see.

“I don’t get it,” Hermione said and Fred nodded in agreement.

“It’s Percy,” he said in mock outrage at them not being able to tell what it was.

“It’s a stick,” Fred and Hermione both said and they looked at each other in surprise.

“Hey, you’re stealing my twin!” George pouted and Hermione looked at him with a raised eyebrow and he grinned at her.

“I repeat, it’s a stick and is that a...hat and a badge?” she squinted.

“Precisely, Percy has a giant stick shoved up his arse. I don’t know where he begins and the stick ends.” Hermione and Fred looked at each other and then burst out laughing whilst George smiled proudly with his chest puffed out.

“That’s brilliant,” Hermione gasped out and she leaned against Fred, clutching at her aching sides. She took several calming breaths and then spoke. “Your turn, Fred.”

Fred cleared his throat and then picked up his parchment; he turned it around and made a sweeping hand gesture, showcasing it.

Hermione stared in surprise.

“Merlin, that’s amazing,” she said awed and staring at the drawing in wonder.

Fred had drawn a very detailed portrait of an ogre’s face. It looked incredibly lifelike, down to the skin tone and wrinkles, the two jagged fangs and the cold, narrowed eyes. It was truly hideous, but beautifully so.

Fred shrugged. “It’s nothing,” he said, brushing off her comment and George watched the two of them with an amused small smile.

“No, seriously Fred, it’s amazing, I didn’t know you could draw like that. You’re brilliant, very talented, you have a gift.” George noted amusedly, the small tinge of pink on his twin’s cheeks and the tips of his ears. “You could give Dean a run for his galleons,” she said proudly and she took the picture from him, her fingers brushing his and Fred could swear he felt a jolt of electricity shoot through him at her touch.

“Can I keep this?”

He shrugged. “Sure, what are you going to do with it?” he asked curiously.

She grinned. “I’m going to enlarge it, frame it and when we go to Grimmauld for Christmas, I’m going to hang it right over Mrs. Black’s portrait. All you’ll see from the neck upwards is this ogre's head,” she beamed. “Sirius will love it, every time he sees it he’ll wet himself laughing and Mrs. Black won’t be impressed at all, it’s a win-win situation.” They stared at her before bursting out into laughter.

“Now that’s brilliant,” George praised and her grin widened.

“I thought so too, no one will be able to take her seriously when she starts spouting off her blood supremacy bollocks.”

The twins gasped. “Miss. Granger, such foul language,” George tutted and she shrugged.

“You’ve been spending too much time with Sirius,” Fred said amused and she grinned.

“I know,” she agreed and they chuckled. “So, how did you get so talented at drawing? As you can tell, I’m pants,” she gestured to her own drawing and they snorted.

Fred shrugged. “I don’t know really, I’ve been drawing since I was little, just a natural I guess.”

“Well you’re both incredibly creative, your products prove that, they’re dangerously ingenious.” They sat up straighter and puffed out their chests. “Though over the years I’ve noticed that George is the more practical of the two of you and Fred is more theoretical.”

“What?” they asked shocked. _‘How did she know that?’_ they thought.

“Well, George is better at potions and Fred, you’re better at charms. You’re both brilliant at transfiguration, and from what I can tell from the D.A, you’re both skilled duellists and I have no doubt you’ll be able to cast a Patronus in the future. And I know you’re both rubbish at herbology which makes me laugh because of your potion brewing abilities.”

They stared at her.

“How do you know that?” they both asked.

She chuckled. “Starting from my third year, I sometimes attended your lessons because they were more advanced than mine. I had permission from Dumbledore and the other Professors, as long as I stayed in the back and didn’t make a sound. I was actually in the lessons that I just mentioned. No one ever noticed I was there, I sometimes still attend them too, it just depends on the lesson plan for the day and whether or not I’ve already achieved what the class is being taught.”

They stared in awe.

“That’s why you were brewing Amortentia?” George said in shock. “You said it was for extra credit, you wouldn’t be able to brew it unless you had a lesson on it before and you don’t learn to brew it until sixth year.”

“If I remember correctly, that was the day Lee’s cauldron exploded. But I first brewed Amortentia in my third year because I was bored,” she shrugged.

Fred laughed disbelievingly. “I can’t believe this, you’ve been in our lessons for the last two years and no one’s ever noticed.”

“Not an observant bunch your classmates,” she mused and then shrugged. “Anyway, back to my point. You’re both amazingly creative and talented. But I’ve noticed that Fred tends to make the plans, figure out the theory and George tries to make the products through trial and error,” before they could ask how she knew that Hermione answered. “As I said, I’ve attended some of your classes so I’ve seen it there, but when you’re in the common room, Fred tends to be scribbling away on parchment with a thoughtful look on his face, and it doesn’t take a genius to work out what you’re doing.”

“You’ve noticed us?” George spoke, both pleased and stunned.

“Of course I have, I’m a lot more observant than the others. Besides, you’re not exactly subtle are you?” she chuckled. “I can hear you boys approaching from the other side of the castle. And you have a gaggle of witches following you around like lost puppies,” she said amused.

“No, we don’t,” Fred said frowning.

“Yeah, you do.”

“We don’t,” George denied.

“You’ve honestly never noticed?” she said in disbelief. “Boys, listen to me, you have a fan club; they follow you around all the time. When you walk past them in the hallway they giggle and blush, when you smile at them they practically faint, when you drop a quill in the corridors they pick it up and keep it like it’s their most precious possession, you’re famous around here, legends even. You have a fan club.”

“How do you know this?”

“I have eyes,” she said simply. “And I’ve seen some fourth year Gryffindors gushing over this quill that apparently belongs to George, by the way, have either of you lost a towel, a potions book or a pair of socks?”

“Now that you mention it...” Fred said thoughtfully. Hermione burst out laughing and they stared at her. “What’s so funny?”

“A third year Gryffindor has your socks, a sixth year Hufflepuff your towel and a seventh year Ravenclaw your potions book.” They gawked. “When I walked into the common room last week, the night you walked me back from the library,” she clarified. “I was stopped in the common room by some fourth and sixth years, they wanted to know if we were friends, how close we were and if I could somehow get them a pair of your underwear.”

“You’re joking,” they both said horrified.

“I wish,” she chuckled. “The conversation worried me a little, but now that I think about it, it’s hilarious,” she laughed.

“It’s disturbing,” they replied.

“I know; that’s what makes it so funny. Considering you two are brilliant you’re rather clueless. Next time you’re walking down the corridor, pay attention, but don’t be obvious about it, if you even give them the slightest bit of attention they’ll shriek like a banshee and won’t shut up about it for the rest of the year, and they’ll only become more relentless in following you around,” she snorted. “It’s your own fault really,” she mused.

“How is it our fault?” Fred said incredulously and looking at her like she was a nutter.

“Well, you are incredibly intelligent -although you don’t let people see it- and you’re creative, imaginative, loyal and everyone knows you’re both hilarious, like seriously, I’ve seen Snape’s lip twitch once or twice due to one of your pranks, so well done, Snape feeling laughter and joy is about as rare as Hagrid hating magical creatures. I’ve noticed how kind and selfless you can be as well. Not that they care about that because they’re superficial. Which brings me to my last point, you’re quite handsome too,” she shrugged; they noticed that she didn’t blush. It seemed she could give compliments, but not receive them.

“You think we’re handsome?” the practically whispered in shock.

She nodded. “You all are, your brothers I mean, but for different reasons obviously. Percy and Ronald in my opinion, are far less handsome because of their horrendous attitudes and personalities. Anyway, any girl would be lucky to have either of you.”

The twins shared a hopeful look. “Well, we hope we can convince her that,” George said.

Hermione’s eyes snapped to theirs and a smirk appeared, they were taken aback at the foreign gesture.

“Wait, there is someone you’ve got your eye on?” They nodded. “Same girl?” They nodded again.

“Do you think it’s weird?” Fred asked. “Us liking the same person?”

“No, triads are uncommon in this world, but they aren’t looked down on either. Actually they’re coveted. It’s known that witches and wizards who are a part of a triad are quite powerful, there’s magic involved in creating a bond of sorts between the members, and for that reason, people want to use them for their power. I think the last triad was your Uncles Fabian and Gideon. They were powerful; they took out a load of Death Eaters before they were overpowered.”

“How do you know this?” Fred asked curiously.

“Sirius told me.”

“Is there anything you two don’t talk about?” George said.

“I don’t think so,” she said, frowning thoughtfully.

“Sex? I can’t imagine a teenage girl wishing to discuss that was their male parent.”

“No, we talk about it; I was almost raped and sexually abused. We have to talk about it so that I won’t be affected by what they did to me for the rest of my life. Sirius, he makes me feel safe. I trust him and I don’t need taking care of, but I know that he’ll take care of me whether or not I need him or want him to. He is what a Father should be,” she said softly, her eyes locked on the table. “I have no way to repay him for what he’s done for me. I am forever in his debt. And I’m screwed this Christmas, how the hell am I supposed to repay him, any gift I get him would hardly compare to what he’s given me?” she sighed. “Anyway, back to this girl. I’m nosey so I’m going to ask. Do I know her? What’s she like?”

The twins once more shared a look, having a silent conversation like Hermione had seen them do several times in the past, before they nodded to each other, apparently in agreement.

“Subtle,” Fred mouthed and George nodded.

“Well, she’s a Gryffindor. She’s scarily smart and helplessly beautiful. She’s kind and caring and loyal to a fault.” George spoke whilst watching her, but Hermione was too busy to notice, with her head cocked to the side and a thoughtful look on her face, trying to figure it out.

“She puts others before herself and she’s downright frightening with a wand. She’s a brunette, with chocolate brown eyes and tanned skin,” Fred spoke, openly staring at her and not bothering to hide it.

“Well that rules out Angelina Johnson, she has black her and her skin’s darker than the rest of the girls in your year, Alicia Spinnet has green eyes and Laura Goodman is pale and I’m not trying to be mean, but she’s not the smartest of people.” They nodded in agreement at her last comment. “That’s the only girls in Gryffindor in your year,” she said confused.

“She’s not in our year,” George replied staring at her intently, hoping that she would understand what he was trying to convey just by looking at him.

She was going to speak when her alarm on her wand went off. She looked up surprised and then reached over to shut it off. “Well detention is over boys, I hope I won’t have to give you detention again.”

She stood and flicked her wand gathering all the parchment and putting the felt tip pens and colouring pencils back in the packaging and she banished them back to her room.

“If detention with you is like this then we’ll make sure to get double servings,” George winked at her and she blushed and turned away and banished the cushions and table.

“I’d rather it be me than that dreadful toad. What I wouldn’t give to see that hideous pink suit on fire,” she sighed and the twins shared a look and a smirk. If that’s what she wanted, they’d make it happen for her.

“Let’s go, it’s getting colder up here and I’m exhausted.”

She left the tower with them walking silently beside her. When they reached the fifth floor they ran into Filch.

“Look what we have here, My Sweet,” he said to Mrs. Norris who meowed in response. “Students out of bed.”

“They had detention with me, Filch,” Hermione said and Filch perked up at the news.

“Did they suffer?”

Hermione looked to Fred and George and they jumped in realisation.

“Oh, suffer? Yeah, we suffered. It was awful, three hours of torture,” George said.

“Yeah, truly horrendous, it’ll give us nightmares.” Fred shivered for extra effect.

Filch grinned a crooked smile.

“Well done, Granger.” They noticed her flinching at the name. “There’s hope for you yet. Now get back to your common room.”

Hermione nodded and walked away with the twins following behind her and looking solemn, and when they reached the common room it was empty.

“Right boys, don’t get detention again, yeah?” She walked away and before she headed up the girl’s staircase she turned around. “And if you need a wing woman for this girl of yours, let me know.” She turned and ran up to her room.

Fred and George turned to each other and then quickly made their way to their room before shutting the door.

“She thinks we’re handsome,” Fred grinned.

“And talented, brilliant, intelligent,” George grinned back.

“We get detention tomorrow?”

George scoffed. “Obviously.” They beamed at each other. “I can’t believe she couldn’t figure it out. They only thing we didn’t say was her name.”

Fred chuckled. “She’s clueless,” he shook his head, thinking about her fondly. “Do you really think we have a fan club?”

“If she says we do than we do, we better keep a better eye on our things. Especially our underwear.” They shivered.

~000~000~000~

As soon as Hermione entered her room, she changed into her pyjamas and headed to her bathroom. She set about readying for bed and she was stood by the sink readying her toothbrush.

“Gryffindor. Brunette. Brown eyes. Tanned skin. Not in their year,” she said to herself, trying to figure out who they were talking about. She shook her head and started brushing her teeth, watching her movements in the mirror above the sink.

“Gryffindor. Brunette. Brown eyes. Tanned skin. Not in their year,” she muttered around her toothbrush and then she made a sound of frustration.

She washed her mouth out, cleaned her toothbrush and popped it back in its place. She looked up at the mirror and then a thought hit her, she cocked her head to the side and looked at her self. Really looked.

“Gryffindor. Brunette,” she touched her hair. “Brown eyes,” she looked at her eyes in the mirror. “Tanned skin,” she ran her fingers over her cheek. “Not in their year,” her eyes widened in shock and she stepped backwards. “No, it can’t be. It’s just a coincidence.” She looked up at herself once more and then ran from the bathroom and she sat on her bed with her head in her hands.

“It’s just a coincidence,” she muttered.

Her conscience snorted. _‘Get a grip. It’s not a coincidence and you know it.’_

“It is,” she argued.

_‘It’s not. They were talking about you. You’re the girl.’_

“I can’t be.”

 _‘But you are and you know it. Think, really think. How have they been treating you lately? Yes, they know your secret, but they haven’t been making things easier for you for no reason, they care for you. They fancy the pants off of you,’_ her conscience chuckled. _‘They go out of their way to make you laugh. They seek you out during D.A. meetings and in the common room. They wanted more detentions with you, they uncharacteristically woke up early so they could eat breakfast with you without interruption from others and they asked you for lessons. You’re the girl,’_ her conscience smirked. _‘And you like them.’_

“Of course I do.”

_‘No, you like them, like them. Think about it. What did you say to them in detention? You meant every word and you told them everything you value about them. You called them handsome for Merlin’s Sake. Did you forget that little crush you had on them the summer before fourth year?’_

“I got over that.”

_‘Did you? Or did you bury it only to realise that your feelings are still there? Stronger even, especially after the way they’ve been treating you. Admit it, you like that they’re giving you more attention. You like that they seem to care. You like them.’_

“Okay, maybe I do, but still, it’s not me.”

_‘Keep telling yourself that.’_

~000~000~000~

**Monday 11th December 1995**

Hermione had been avoiding the twins since the night of their detention last Wednesday. They, of course, had noticed. It worried them that they had done something to upset her. Every time they walked towards her she walked off in the opposite direction and she somehow disappeared out of sight. They tried going to the hidden library room, but they never caught her. They tried empty classrooms but could never find her. At mealtimes she would leave before they even had the chance to speak to her and she always made sure she sat at the table where there were no seats available that were close to her.

They’d had enough of her avoiding them, especially when they didn’t even know what they’d done wrong. Hell, they hadn’t spoken to her in almost a week, so what could they have done? They decided they would corner her when she least expected it.

So after dinner on Monday evening, they snuck out of the great hall before Hermione did, and they followed her. Once they reached the fourth floor they pushed her into an empty classroom, they shut the door behind them and silenced and locked it.

When they turned Hermione was looking around with her eyes narrowed and somehow, her wand was pointed in George’s face. Fred and George quickly removed their Disillusionment Charms.

“Whoa there, Granger,” George said with his hands up in surrender. She sighed when she saw it was only them and she dropped her wand arm.

“Fred, George you complete and utter idiots!” she scolded them and then she whacked both of them in the arm. They whined and rubbed their arms. “Do you have any idea what I could’ve done to you?” she fumed.

“In hindsight, that probably wasn’t our best idea,” Fred said to George. “We forgot she’s dangerous with and without a wand.”

“Yeah, we’ll have to be more cautious next time,” George agreed.

They both then looked at Hermione, George crossed his arms, Fred put his hands in his pockets and they both leaned against the wall. Hermione watched them both carefully and subtly put more distance between them.

“Why have you been avoiding us?” George asked.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“You’re a rubbish liar, why have you been avoiding us?” Fred spoke.

“I haven’t,” she denied.

“Did we do something to offend you?” George asked.

“No.”

“Because if we did then we’re sorry, but you should’ve just told us. There was no need to avoid...”

“I haven’t been avoiding you because you offended me, which you haven’t.”

“So you admit you’ve been avoiding us?” Fred smirked.

“No,” she scowled and cursed silently.

“Why are you avoiding us? Tell us and we’ll leave you alone,” George said.

Hermione turned so her back was to them and she walked forward until she reached the first desk. She placed her hands against the surface and leaned forward with her head bowed.

“What’s her name?” Hermione asked.

“What?” the twins said confused.

“The girl you told me about. What’s her name?” she whispered.

Fred and George shared a look.

“She knows?” Fred mouthed.

“Possibly,” George replied. They slowly started to walk towards her.

“Well, she’s in Gryffindor -” Fred started.

“- And she’s incredibly intelligent, kind, loyal and caring. -”

“- She puts others before herself and is terrifying with and without a wand. -”

“- She has large, chocolate brown eyes and beautifully tanned skin. -” They stepped so they each stood on either side of her, but still slightly behind her.

“And she has soft mahogany curls, that are a confusing mixture of wild and tame and they fall to the middle of her back.” Fred reached up and tugged gently on one of her curls and a small smile covered his face. “She’s in fifth year and a prefect. She is apparently older than us due to the use of a time-turner and she is incredibly beautiful, no matter what she or anyone else says.”

They both leaned forward until their mouths were by her ears. The heard Hermione’s breathing change and she tensed up slightly when Fred rested a hand on her shoulder and George the small of her back, but they knew it wasn’t her fault. The only people they had actually seen touch her without flinching was Sirius, Remus and that Jason guy who was her self defence teacher. During the summer she avoided touching people, even Harry and their Mum.

“- Her name? Her name is -” George spoke softly.

“- Hermione -”

“- Jean -”

“- Granger,” Fred finished in a whisper into her ear.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Page Count: 11

**Hogwarts - Monday 11th December 1995**

They looked at each other over her head and nodded.

“But you already knew that, didn’t you?” George said with a small smile and they both leaned forward and placed a kiss against her cheek.

That broke Hermione out of her daze, she pulled back away from them with wide eyes and she stumbled backwards, staring at them horrified. They watched her worriedly.

Her back hit the wall and she slid down it until she hit the floor; she wrapped her arms around her legs and rested her head against her knees.

“No, no, you can’t. It can’t be me,” she whispered, but they could hear perfectly. They made their way to her and they crouched down in front of her.

“We do and it is,” George said.

“No!”

“Why can’t it be you?” Fred asked softly.

“I’m damaged goods. The only people I can bear to touch me are Sirius, Remus and Jason. I likely won’t see Jason again. I can’t even let Harry touch me. It’s Harry for Merlin’s sake! Even your bloody Mum! I nearly have a panic attack in the corridors when people bump into me. When Ginny tries to link her arm through mine I pull away. Ron touched my elbow the other day in class to get my attention and I almost screamed the roof off. McGonagall had to send me to my dorm room for the rest of the lesson so I could calm myself down. I have my own dorm room now. Not for me, but for the safety of the other girls in the tower. They didn’t want to risk me hurting anyone in case they touched me during a nightmare. Merlin, I’m beyond damaged!” She cried into her arms.

The twins felt their hearts break for her. They hated seeing her so upset.

“Hey, look at us,” Fred said quietly.

She shook her head, so he put his hands on either side of her face, she flinched and he slowly moved her head so that it was tilted up and she was forced to look at them. He wiped away her tears with his thumbs, noticing the way she’d tensed under his touch.

“That’s better. Listen to me very carefully. You are not damaged goods. That suggests there’s something wrong with you. What happened to you is beyond awful and it’s perfectly understandable that you don’t like to be touched by anyone. But that doesn’t mean that we don’t fancy the pants off you, because it’s evident to anyone with eyes that we do.”

“We’ll help you,” George said, taking over for his twin. “We’ll help you work on your fear of being touched. We’ll help you keep your secret. We’ll move at your pace. You are in control of every move between us. We would never hurt you, Hermione, you know that. Look at what we’ve done for you,” George chuckled with a shake of his head. “We purposely got detention with you just to be able to spend more time around you. We asked you for Patronus lessons so we could spend more time with you. We always change the topic of conversation when we see that it’s upsetting you. We make sure you have a good laugh at least three times a week, we followed you to your defence lesson because we were worried about you and we followed you on your prefect rounds, too.”

“What?” she said quickly.

Fred groaned and George realised what he’d said and he laughed nervously.

“Nothing,” he laughed.

“You followed me?”

“No,” they all but squeaked.

“And we definitely didn’t see you kick Malfoy’s arse,” Fred said with a wink. A small smile broke out on her face. “We followed you because we heard you were going down to the dungeons. We know the Slytherins aren’t a fair bunch and if they cornered you we wanted to be there in case you needed us. But you didn’t,” he said proudly. 

“By the way, Professor Dumbitch?” George asked with a raised eyebrow and she shrugged. “I like it, much better than what we came up with,” he grinned. “Back to the point, you no longer have only Sirius and Remus, you have us as well. There are far too many reasons why we like you to explain them all, so just take our word for it.”

“How long? Don’t lie to me either,” she muttered, not knowing if she actually wanted to hear the answer or not.

“Honestly, the summer before your fourth year, when you came to the Burrow for the World Cup. We noticed that you weren’t just our little brother’s best friend. It was like you’d changed, but you hadn’t at the same time. It’s hard to explain,” Fred frowned in thought.

“We knew Ron had a thing for you so we didn’t act on our feelings out of respect to him. We pushed all the feelings down and buried them. When we saw you at the Yule Ball...” George whistled, “Well, you knocked our socks off.”

“The ones that were stolen?” she asked with a small smile and her tears stopped falling.

“Check out the wit on this one, Georgie,” Fred laughed and George grinned.

“See, you’re perfect for us and coincidentally it was.” She gave a small laugh.

“We have a confession to make,” Fred added with a sheepish look.

“What?”

“We spiked Krum’s drink.”

She stared at them as the tips of their ears turned pink and then she burst out laughing.

“You...you...spiked his...” she couldn’t stop laughing and they chuckled at her. “Poor Viktor,” she sighed as her laughter trailed off.

“ _Poor Viktor_ had the most stunningly beautiful girl on his arm that night, poor us for not asking you before he did,” George said with a smile.

“That’s better,” Fred smiled. “We prefer you crying with laughter than sadness, although you’re actually a pretty crier, another reason for girls to be jealous of you.” She snorted in disbelief. “So, will you go on a date with us?”

“Just one date?” George asked hopefully. She bit her lip and stuttered over her words a few times. “Okay, we pretty much just bared our souls to you, so let me ask you a question, just one question. Do you like us?”

“Did you mean what you said the night of our detention?” Fred asked hopefully.

“Yes, I did,” she confessed and they couldn’t help their smiles. “And yes, I do,” she answered with her eyes closed. “Summer before my fourth year, I noticed something was different about the two of you but I didn’t know what. You were my best friend’s older brothers so I pushed any feelings I had towards you down and I buried them. Then when I ‘arrived’ at Grimmauld I noticed that you were treating me differently, subtly of course, but I still noticed it. Then the night of the detention when I got back to my room, I was going over what you’d told me and I couldn’t think of anyone who fit that description. I looked up at the mirror and noticed my hair, my eyes, my skin. I was in Gryffindor and not in your year. I started panicking and I had this huge internal battle trying to figure everything out. I realised that the feelings I had for you were still there, stronger even. It’s why I’ve been avoiding you. It was awkward. Part of me was convinced it was a coincidence and the other half believed I was the girl you had described. I couldn’t deal with it and I panicked whenever I saw you coming towards me, so I ran and hid from you.” She opened her eyes to see two large grins.

“So, will you go on a date with us?” they asked.

She sighed and nodded. “Yes, I will.”

“Brilliant,” they beamed.

“Friday? Seven o’clock?” Fred asked.

“That’s fine,” she agreed.

“Great, dress warm, we already have it planned out,” George spoke through a grin and she shook her head at him.

“Now, do you want to do a lesson, we haven’t had one in a while?” she asked them.

“Sure, let’s go to the library,” Fred answered with a grin of his own.

~000~000~000~

**Friday 15th December 1995**

Hermione was dressed and ready. She wore a light grey cashmere sweater, black skinny jeans and grey winter boots, along with a soft woollen white scarf, gloves and the matching bobble hat. She left her hair down and had on her long white winter coat. Apparently, when Sirius had given Tonks and Mrs. Weasley his vault number, they went a little bit overboard with buying her new clothing. Tonks, in particular, hired a personal shopper and had things pulled from shelves that weren’t even supposed to be for retail yet. As a result, her wardrobe had grown massively and was filled with expensive labels, which Ginny had definitely noticed. She had brought the subject up more than once but with the help of Sirius and Mrs. Weasley, the subject was always changed.

Hermione headed down to the common room and made her way towards the portrait, where the twins would be waiting for her on the other side.

“Oi, Hermione!” she heard someone call. She turned around and it was Ron, who was looking at her appraisingly.

“Yes, Ronald,” she sighed.

“Where are you going, it’s Friday, don’t you have homework to do?” he asked.

“No,” she replied.

“Then where are you going?”

“Not that it’s any of your business, Ronald, but I have a date,” she ground out.

Ron looked at her and then burst out laughing. She felt hurt at his reaction but kept her face passive.

“Good one, Hermione, who’d want to date you?”

“Who indeed?” she muttered and then she turned and stormed out of the common room and into the hallway.

She shut the portrait behind her and took several deep breaths; she would not let him ruin her date before it even started.

“Hey, Hermione,” two voices chimed.

She opened her eyes to see the twins grinning at her. As far as she could recall, that was the first time they’d used her first name.

“You look great.”

She smiled at them. “Thank you, you two clean up quite nicely. It’s rare to see either of you without some sort of potion ingredient spilt over you,” she said and they laughed at her.

They both wore dark blue jeans and white trainers. Fred was wearing a black woollen jumper and the collar of a blue shirt underneath stood out, whereas George wore a blue woollen jumper and a white shirt. They both had on their Gryffindor scarves and winter cloaks. Their turquoise eyes sparkled at her and their shaggy red hair covered their ears and was a mess as usual, putting her wild hair to shame.

“Are you okay? You looked a little upset when you came out,” Fred asked looking at her worriedly.

She smiled at him. “I’m fine, thank you, Fred. Just Ronald being his usual self.” They frowned but shook their heads.

“Shall we?” George said grinning, she laughed and nodded.

He and Fred both held their arms out for her, and Hermione took them and they began walking down the halls, taking the secret passageways as shortcuts.

“I thought you don’t like people touching you,” George said softly.

“I don’t unless it’s Sirius and Remus. But I can touch other people as long as _I_ am the one to initiate the first touch.” They nodded in understanding and made small talk as they led her to their destination.

They reached the Black Lake; it had frozen over due to the cold Scottish weather and the snow that had been falling for the last two weeks.

There was a picnic blanket underneath the large tree with a few dishes that had dessert foods on them. She looked up at them in pleasant surprise as they led her over to the blanket that had been spelled to protect them from the cold snow beneath.

“Chocolate chip cookies, chocolate fudge cake with whipped cream, strawberry ice cream and marshmallows?” she said as they took a seat.

“Your favourite desserts,” Fred grinned.

“How did you know that?”

“Believe it or not, we pay attention,” George said. “Unlike certain people,” he muttered and Hermione knew that jab was aimed at Harry and Ron.

“Seems you have a real sweet tooth,” Fred teased and she chuckled.

“Where did you even get this from?”

“Dobby, he’s taken with you,” George said and they laughed.

They ate the food and talked and soon they were leading her over to The Black Lake. She raised an eyebrow and they grinned at her. Fred removed his wand and pointed them at her boots and he transfigured them into ice skates. She almost fell over at the sudden change in balance and they caught her and amusement sparkled within their eyes.

She scowled at them. “A bit of warning might be good next time,” she grouched.

“There’s going to be a next time?” Fred asked hopefully.

“Maybe, if you play your cards right.” They grinned at her response.

They pulled her onto the ice and she wobbled on her feet.

“Have you done this before?” George asked, seeing as she gripped his hand tightly, not that he was complaining.

“Not since I was about eight,” she admitted. “School trip,” she explained. “I was rubbish, I face planted the floor, managed to stand up only to fall backwards and land on my arse.” They laughed at her. “It’s not funny, I accidentally fell into one of my classmates, who in turn fell into the person next to him, when I looked up five people had hit the ground, it was like human dominoes.” Their laughter grew louder.

“Lethal with a wand, -”

“- Lethal without a wand, -”

“- And lethal on skates,” they teased and she mock glared at them.

They spent half an hour skating on the ice, with Hermione refusing to let go of either of them for fear of falling and hurting either herself or them. They were of course more than happy with that development and didn’t bother to argue with her.

Afterwards, they got off the ice and transfigured their skates back into their shoes and they cleaned up the picnic blanket and dishes. They then proceeded to have a snow ball fight and since the twins outnumbered her, Hermione cheated and spelled snowballs to follow them around. Just when they thought they were safe, they were hit in the face and Hermione would almost fall over laughing, along with the twin that didn’t get hit that particular time.

After an hour of that, they were all soaked and Drying and Warming Charms were needed to prevent illness.

They headed back to the common room just in time for curfew, Hermione thanked them and impulsively she kissed their cheeks and entered the common room, leaving behind two beaming redheads.

“The next date has to be even better,” Fred said.

“Of course, I don’t know how we’re going to top that though,” George replied.

“We’re The Weasley Twins, we’ll think of something.”

“Took the words right out of my mouth.”

~000~000~000~

**Saturday 16th December 1995**

The next day Hermione was down in the great hall eating breakfast with a large smile on her face. There weren’t that many people present, she counted no more than eight, plus Professor Sprout, who looked to have fallen asleep in her chair. Hermione chuckled and shook her head. She couldn’t blame her, it wasn’t even eight o’clock in the morning yet, most students didn’t get up till around lunch on the weekends.

She was sat in her regular seat at the Gryffindor table. She looked around the table at the wide assortments of breakfast foods. She wanted some pancakes that morning. The pancakes were closer towards the end of the table than they were to her and she sighed. She didn’t want to have to get up and walk over to them and she didn’t want to use magic to summon them either, she was still a Muggleborn and using magic for little tasks such as that was lazy.

She narrowed her eyes at the pancakes just wishing they were in front of her. Suddenly there was a gust of wind that settled itself around Hermione, before it headed down the table, stopping behind the pancakes, and the pancakes were blown along the table until the plate came to a stop in front of her.

She looked down at the plate of pancakes in shock, before quickly looking around the room. No one had taken any notice as to what had just happened. It was strange, there were no open windows, no draughts and even if there was, a slight draught wouldn’t be able to move a full plate of stacked pancakes down half a length of the table. What had just happened?

Fred and George were staring at her from at the end of the table. They’d just entered the great hall when they saw Hermione’s focused gaze narrowed on a stack of pancakes. They were going to pick the plate up and take them to her, but then suddenly something strange occurred.

They saw it.

Hermione’s hair blew around her face, as if it was in the wind outdoors, and they saw what looked to be a tiny, palm-sized tornado make its way down the table to stop behind the pancakes. They felt a breeze hit them as the plate of pancakes was pushed down the table only to stop in front of Hermione, who looked just as shocked as they did.

“What was that?” Fred whispered to his twin.

“I have no idea,” George whispered back. “But you saw what I did; it came out of nowhere, like she was controlling it!”

“But that’s impossible; you can’t control nature, even with magic.”

“It’s the first time we’ve seen her do this, but it’s not the first time we’ve seen her magic act out. Remember, rain? Thunder? Lightning? And four times apparently. She did all of that without meaning to. And now she just did something with that tiny tornado thing, with air.”

“So water and air?”

“And thunder and lightning,” George imputed.

“That’s two elements,” Fred replied whilst his attention was still on Hermione, watching as she ate her breakfast.

“Three, I’m pretty sure lightning has something to do with an element as well.”

“Do we tell Sirius?” Fred asked.

“He’s probably already clocked it, but we’ll mention it when we next see him, we can’t risk owling with the mail being screened, especially if this is something that could impact her safety,” George replied.

They both nodded in agreement before they plastered wide smiles on their faces and made their way over to Hermione, plopping down on either side of her. When she smiled at them, their smiles turned into genuine ones.

“What are you boys doing up early?” she asked them.

“Early?” they chirped.

“It’s not even eight yet,” she said chuckling.

They shrugged, but the grins broke out on their faces and she laughed. 

“We were hoping we could have another lesson today,” George said.

“Okay, but it’s a Hogsmeade weekend, don’t you want to go?”

“We’ve gotten everything we need to. You?” Fred answered.

“Everything’s done and wrapped,” she nodded.

“Great, straight after breakfast then?” George asked and she nodded.

After breakfast they left the great hall and headed straight to the Room of Requirement, the D.A room appeared along with the three armchairs.

“What are we doing today?” Fred asked.

“Today you’re going to attempt the charm,” Hermione said, flopping down on the armchair in front of them.

“Really?” George asked, appearing to be both surprised and excited.

“Yes. You’ve learned the theory, you’ve learned the meditation, you know the wand movements and the incantation, now you have to put it to use,” she shrugged. “So, get to it.”

They raised an eyebrow at her. “You’re not going to show us?” Fred said.

“No, because then you’ll learn my Patronus without you having worked for it.”

“Is it an elephant?” George guessed.

“No.”

“An owl?” Fred inquired.

“No, you asked me that last night.”

“Lion?”

“No.”

“It better not be a snake,” George said and she laughed at him.

“No, it’s not a snake, or a reptile,” she replied and they frowned.

“This is going to take ages to guess,” Fred spoke and she smirked.

“It’s also going to take you until I turn old and grey to cast the Patronus if you don’t get a move on.”

“Bossy witch,” they muttered fondly as they moved over to the middle of the room.

“You already know what you have to do, so ignore everything around you and get it done.”

She watched as they closed their eyes and controlled their breathing. Whilst they did that she allowed her thoughts to wander. The happenings at breakfast with the pancakes kept plaguing her mind. It was obvious that it had something to do with air, she felt the breeze on her skin as it swept past her and headed for the pancakes, and it brought them to her. That wasn’t normal.

Could she have been responsible for that?

Her magic had been acting up lately and she didn’t know what to make of it. The incident at breakfast. The incident with the thunder and lightning on four separate occasions. She could swear that sometimes when she walked past a flickering flame it flared up, as if wanting to touch her. She noticed that sometimes when she was upset it rained, but then again, a lot of people were sad when it rained. The previous summer when she was too warm, she wished for a gentle breeze to help cool her down, and as if her prayers had been answered, cold air would tickle at her skin and she would smile gratefully and thank Merlin.

But they were just coincidences, right? The air. The fire. The water and thunder and lightning hadn’t been, but the others had. Four of Earth’s natural elements. But she brushed that thought away; even magic couldn’t manipulate the elements. But still, it was four out of the five. So the fifth? Earth. She thought back, trying to remember if she’s had any unexplainable experiences with the element of earth. She frowned and concentrated hard, and then she found something, a memory buried for some time.

She was four years old, it had been raining for days and it had finally stopped. Hermione stepped out into the back garden of her house in her raincoat, jeans, jumper and wellies. She frowned when she saw that the garden was swamped. The grass and mud sloppy and all of the flowers were dead from the onslaught of rain for six days straight.

It’d upset her to see the garden that way; the garden was her favourite place in the world. She felt tears welling up in her eyes and she squeezed them shut and sniffled. When she opened her eyes again she gasped. All of the water was gone, and the grass dried out. She stared at a single dead flower, a daffodil. It suddenly straightened up as if it was alive. Her eyes were wide and mouth hung open as she made her way towards that daffodil. She sat down in front of it and continued to stare at it, watching as the shrivelled up petals returned to their smooth and soft texture and the bright colour come back. She gawked.

She then looked at the daffodil next to it and suddenly that stood up, its petals were repaired and the beautiful colours returned. She looked around the garden in glee as daffodils, tulips, daisies, roses, buttercups and lavender spouted from the ground, returning the garden to its former glory.

That had been her first magical act, she was sure of it. But also earth? If it was, that was the full five, so what did it mean? She would have to do some research and talk to Sirius about it.

“It’s not working,” she heard Fred say, jolting her out of her thoughts.

“It won’t on your first day of trying, it took me three months.”

“What was your happiest memory?” George asked curiously.

She chuckled. “Crookshanks attacking Ron.” They laughed at her. “If you can’t choose one memory in particular, then combine them, combine the feelings you felt during those moments. You have to believe that you can cast the charm otherwise all of this is just pointless. So try again.”

They sighed but did, thirty minutes later there was a dull glow emitting from the tip of Fred’s wand before it disappeared. Hermione looked up and once more snapped out of her thoughts when she noticed. She gave him a proud smile.

“That’s great, Fred!” He beamed at her praise and smirked at his twin, who muttered under his breath but had a small proud smile on his face. “You almost had an in-corporeal Patronus, keep practising and before you know it you’ll have a full Patronus. George,” she turned to him and then cocked her head in thought. “Sit down,” she gestured to one of the armchairs in front of her.

George shrugged and walked over to an armchair and sat down. She stood up and walked behind his chair and placed her hands on his shoulders, she could feel the tension in his muscles and her brow furrowed.

“Why are you so tense?” she asked. “Never mind, you must be doing the meditation wrong. The incantation’s right and your wand movements are perfect. You’ve got the theory down, so it’s either the meditation, the happy memory or you don’t believe in yourself,” as she spoke she was unconsciously massaging his shoulders and George sighed and slumped against the back of the chair. Fred moved to sit in the armchair beside George and George sent him a smug look and Fred chuckled in reply.

Hermione could feel the tension leaving George and when he practically moaned she blushed and moved her hands away from him.

“Try again,” she said, looking away from Fred who was smirking at her reaction.

George sighed and stood up. He closed his eyes and Hermione saw a look of concentration on his face before it took a serene look and he raised his wand.

“Expecto Patronum,” he said clearly.

Like Fred, George’s wand began to glow a dull colour and when he opened his eyes he was surprised and the light faded until it was gone.

“See, you can do it. Don’t stress yourself out too much. Now lesson’s over the for the day, I need to do some research.”

“Research?” George echoed.

“For the D.A?” Fred asked with a bitter tone.

“No, something I’ve recently become interested in. Just a small project.” Her response earned her a raised eyebrow from both of them.

“Small project?” George said.

“Yes.”

“Not going to tell us what it is?” Fred asked.

“No,” she said and then she waltzed out of the room and they chuckled at her.

“Wait a minute!” Fred called, she turned and looked at them. “Do you want to go to Hogsmeade with us tomorrow?”

“Since we don’t need to do any Christmas shopping we can have a walk around?”

She agreed and they beamed as she left the room.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Page Count: 9

**Hogwarts - Sunday 17th December 1995**

Hermione had attended Hogsmeade with Fred and George and she was glad to know no one really paid attention to them. They spent most of their day walking around the quaint village and talking, learning more about each other. Fred and George managed to drag Hermione into Zonko’s and in retaliation, she dragged them into Tomes and Scrolls. But they honestly didn’t mind, they were awed to see Hermione in her element surrounded by the smell of leather and ink, it was her escape. They understood that Hermione felt safe when she was absorbed in a book.

They raised an eyebrow when both she and a staff member disappeared behind some stacks and then reappeared with several books in their hands. They took them to the counter and they were wrapped and Hermione paid for them before she carefully shrunk them down and placed them in her pocket. She gave vague answers to their questions, both amusing and frustrating them. Afterwards, they went to the Three Broomsticks and ate lunch and drank some warming butterbeer.

They walked around Hogsmeade and had a snowball fight at the Shrieking Shack and Hermione proceeded to tell Fred and George what really happened her third year, including the use of the time turner. They were amazed by what they’d heard, they’d only previously been told the shortened version and it didn’t do Hermione justice. They’d always known Hermione was intelligent and loyal, but their respect for her had skyrocketed to an all-time high.

They returned to the castle not long before curfew and with a few grins and kisses to the cheek from Hermione, they parted ways.

Hermione had promptly taken off her winter coat and hat, scarf and gloves. She took out her books, resized them and set about reading what she needed to know. She had been so absorbed in her books she had missed dinner. She shrugged and then went back to her reading. When she next looked up there was a plate of sandwiches and a glass of pumpkin juice on her bedside table. Hermione smiled and reminded herself to knit Dobby a scarf.

She ate her food and went back to reading.

~000~000~000~

**Monday 18th December 1995**

Hermione awoke surrounded by books. She yawned and stretched and then checked the time. When she saw that is was half eight in the morning her eyes widened and she jumped off the bed. She had thirty minutes to get ready and make it to her class on time.

She took the quickest shower of her life and dried herself, throwing on her uniform and grabbing her satchel which contained everything she needed. As she made her way down to her first lesson her mind wandered back to everything she had read the previous evening.

She hadn’t learned anything groundbreaking, she hadn’t even learned anything remotely useful. It was as she expected. Nothing, not even magic could allow someone to control the elements.

She had read more than a few theories on the prospects of magic manipulating the elements but it wasn’t concrete and still didn’t explain the situation she was in. She was frustrated. For some reason, she knew that something was happening. She couldn’t explain it but she knew that she was different from most people. Maybe it was because she’d always been an outcast.

She was avoided like the plague or bullied at muggle school because weird things tended to happen around her. She was treated like the dirt on someone’s shoes by the Slytherins because of her blood status. How was it her fault they were so small-minded that they couldn’t see the lies they were brought up on? She knew the Ravenclaws didn’t like her either, as much as she hated to admit it she was smarter than most Ravenclaws. The Gryffindor girls were awkward around her and despite the Hufflepuffs being kind when they saw her in the corridors, they didn’t interact with her much either.

She knew there was something different about her. She wasn’t like other witches. Of that she was certain.

She came to a halt outside of her charms classroom, took a few breaths and then entered, making her way to her seat just in time.

It was a few minutes later when she noticed that Harry and Ron weren’t there. She frowned and then shook off her thoughts.

 _‘Maybe they just slept in,’_ she thought.

It wasn’t until lunch when she began to worry. Harry and Ron hadn’t been in potions either. They weren’t in the great hall for lunch and neither were Ginny, Fred or George. She only had a few bites of her lunch, knowing in her gut that something had happened, something to do with The Weasleys since they were all missing.

Lee walked past her and saw that she appeared to be out of sorts.

“McGonagall hasn’t told you yet?” he asked, sitting down opposite her.

“Told me what?” she frowned.

“She collected Fred, George and Ron early this morning, I only know because I had to use the bathroom and left at the same time they did. I’m guessing she collected Ginny as well seeing as her brothers are gone and she’s not here for lunch,” he shrugged.

“Thank you for telling me,” she said quietly. He watched as she nibbled on her lip worriedly before he nodded and then set about eating his lunch.

It wasn’t until her last lesson, transfiguration, that McGonagall finally told her what was happening.

“Miss. Granger, a moment please,” she spoke as the students filtered out of the room.

Hermione grabbed her belongings and made her way over to her desk.

“I’m sure that it hasn’t escaped your attention that Messrs Potter and Weasleys and Miss. Weasley are not present.” Hermione nodded. “There was an incident in the early hours of this morning” she spoke gravely. “Mr. Weasley was injured whilst conducting business for The Order.” Hermione gasped. “He is currently in St. Mungo’s being treated; it is unclear as to when he will recover.”

“But he will recover?” she whispered.

“It is expected, he was reached in time.”

Hermione felt relief flood her.

“Why was Harry taken as well?”

“He witnessed the attack.” Hermione frowned. “We are not sure how, but Mr. Potter dreamed that the attack had happened. To humour him another agent was sent to check on Mr. Weasley, Mr. Potter saved his life. Unfortunately, you are not allowed to leave the school until the 21st, when the other students leave for the term. It was difficult enough to get the others out of the castle without certain people getting in the way.” Hermione knew who she was referring to. “With the attack on Mr. Weasley we will not be sending you on The Hogwarts Express, for your safety you will instead be flooing from Professor Dumbledore’s office at noon on Thursday.”

“Thank you for informing me, Professor,” Hermione replied.

“I think I don’t need to tell you to be careful, Professor Umbridge has also noticed the absence and is not happy. She will likely try to seek you out and question you as to their whereabouts.”

“I understand, Professor, I will act as I would any other day.”

McGonagall gave Hermione a rare smile and stood from her chair and walked around to Hermione. She rested her hand on her shoulder and she felt a tug at her heart when her cub flinched and tensed under her touch. She couldn’t understand how someone could be treated the way Hermione had been. She couldn’t understand how the people who were supposed to protect her were the ones that hurt her the most. They’d hurt her beyond belief.

“I know you will, Miss. Granger.”

With that Hermione left and made her way through the corridors. She couldn’t imagine how Harry felt seeing Mr. Weasley being attacked. She couldn’t imagine how Ron and Ginny felt. But most of all her heart went out to Fred and George. Since the beginning of December, she had spent a lot of time with the twins. They’d only been on two dates, but when she wasn’t with Harry or Ron, in classes or studying, she was with them.

When they weren’t in classes, with their friends or working on pranks, they were with her. Sometimes they talked about nothing and laughed, other times they had their Patronus lessons and sometimes Hermione studied whilst they researched spells and charms for potential new products. She’d grown really close to the twins and she couldn’t remember how that had even happened. Not that she was complaining.

They were right. They wouldn’t hurt her. They would help her move on, they already were. They made her laugh and smile, they made her forget about her past and her parents. They made her feel like there was hope in the world and she secretly liked that they got so angry on her behalf at having to be the brains behind the D.A. when all Harry had to do was give a few demonstrations and the speech she had written for him.

She was so lost in thought about the conversation she’d with McGonagall and thinking about the twins, that she didn’t notice that she had been followed.

“Mudblood!” Hermione stopped and she felt her body tense. On a regular day she would be ready for a fight, but that evening she was feeling weak, exhausted and vulnerable.

She slowly turned around to face Draco Malfoy. He was smirking at her.

“I see the old hag’s finally told you then. He’s going to die you know? Daddy Weasel, from what my father told me the venom is fatal.” He had a god awful smug smile on his face. “I wonder how the Weasels will fair when Daddy isn’t there to bring home the galleons, the few galleons a week he earns that is. I suppose it won’t make much of a difference.”

“Shut up, no one asked for your opinion and no one cares for your opinion. Certainly not me,” she sighed and then turned around.

“Don’t you dare turn your back on me!” he snarled and she heard his footsteps making their way towards her.

She turned around and she felt anger well up in her. Why was it Arthur Weasley that was possibly dying? He was a good, kind man. Why wasn’t it Lucius Malfoy? Death Eater and killer.

“Stay away from me, Malfoy,” Hermione said coldly, anger taking over her exhaustion.

“There’s no one here to protect you now,” he said with a cruel smile as he neared closer. Something inside of Hermione snapped.

She narrowed her eyes at him and just like that morning with the pancakes, she felt a gust of wind, but a lot more powerful. Malfoy suddenly stopped advancing on her and his eyes widened in shock and fear.

He could see a small tornado speeding towards him; it was no bigger than a baby hippogriff. It hit him in the chest and it sent him flying backwards. He landed on the floor a good twenty feet away from where he had originally been standing and he groaned in pain.

Hermione gasped and looked at Malfoy before turning and running all the way back to Gryffindor Tower, she didn’t stop until she’d closed the door to her bedroom.

“What was that?” she asked out loud.

Her eyes went over to the still opened books on her bed and she put down her satchel and went over to them to continue looking for something of use.

That time she was sure that the element of air was somehow involved. What was happing?

~000~000~000~

**Tuesday 19th December 1995**

It wasn’t until the next day that Hermione was approached by Umbridge.

“Miss. Granger, please remain seated,” her sickly sweet voice sounded as everyone walked out of the classroom as fast as they could. Hermione looked up to see her smiling at her with that fake smile she wanted nothing more than to see wiped off her face.

“Professor?” she said with a passive face. Umbridge walked over to Hermione’s desk and stood in front of it, trying to intimidate her.

“It has come to my attention that Mr. Potter and Mr. Weasley are no longer present in the school. I checked with the other Professors and it seems that Miss. Weasley and Mr. Fred and George Weasley are also no longer present.”

“I had noticed that myself.”

“I’m sure you did, do you know where they are? If you are withholding information it will result in severe consequences,” she said with a glint in her eye.

 _‘Even think of using that blood quill on me and you’ll have a pissed off Sirius Black after you,’_ Hermione thought.

“I am not withholding information. I haven’t seen Harry or Ron since breakfast on Sunday morning. I don’t know where they are, I didn’t even know they were no longer here, no one told me they were leaving and I don’t know why they did. Quite honestly I don’t care.” Umbridge looked like she wanted to fall over in shock. “If they left I’m sure it was for a good reason. There is only two days left of the school term and one day of classes, it’s not even worth investigating. No one else seems to care that they’re no longer here, so why do you? Are we done here, Professor? I’m not feeling well and I would like to visit the hospital wing.”

Umbridge continued to stare at her. Hermione sighed, picked up her belongings and stood and left the room, leaving Umbridge in a stuttering mess. Hermione smiled, Sirius would be proud.

~000~000~000~

It was the early hours of the morning. It was cold in her room and Hermione was sat reading in front of the lit fire on her rug.

Her eyes were starting to hurt so she looked away from her book to give her eyes a break. Hermione moved closer to the warmth of the fire and stared into the flames in thought. She didn’t know how long she’d been that way but her eyes were going bleary with exhaustion. She blinked several times and almost gasped in surprise.

The flames had grown bigger and seemed to be moving towards her, leaning out of the fireplace. She was mesmerised by the dance. Despite her better judgement she slowly reached out her hand, her fingertips dangerously close to touching the flames.

She heard a hooting and she jumped in shock. When she did her hand went into the flames and she pulled back immediately cradling her burning hand. But something was wrong. She looked down at her hand, it wasn’t hurting at all, and not even a mark could be seen.

Slowly and tentatively she reached out her fingers again. Her fingertips touched the flames and she gasped in surprise, slowly she made her hand move further into the flames, until it disappeared, showing only the wrist.

The flames weren’t hot, they were cool. The type of cool you craved on a hot day. She lifted her other hand and held it in front of the flames, she could feel the warmth radiating off them. She laughed to herself.

~000~000~000~

**Wednesday 20th December 1995**

Hermione had finished her lessons for the term. After collecting her belongings she headed to her room and immediately changed out of her uniform and into a pair of warm, flannel pyjamas and slippers. She was laying on her bed and staring at the glass of water that sat on her bedside table.

She didn’t know why but she was mesmerised by it. She couldn’t stop staring at it no matter how hard she tried.

She squinted; she could’ve sworn she saw something moving. She squinted her eyes tighter. There! She saw something move. Her eyes narrowed and she sat up, not taking her eyes off the glass. Suddenly all the water in the glass erupted. It shot up out of the glass and into the air. The water collected into a blob and just floated there.

Hermione laughed and beamed and then she had an idea. An image popped into her head. She focused her attention on the floating blob of water. Before her eyes, it began to morph and shape. A few seconds later the blob of water was no more, now in its place was the form of a dog made out of water.

Hermione reached for her wand and cast a Freezing Charm on the water. The water turned into ice and fell from the air. Hermione caught it and in her hand, she held the figurine of a dog moulded out of ice.

She needed to speak to Sirius. No matter what the books say is impossible, she could do it.

~000~000~000~

**12 Grimmauld Place - Thursday 21st December 1995**

Hermione along with her shrunken down luggage stepped out of the floo and into Grimmauld Place. Before she could look around she was picked up and crushed against someone. She smiled and wrapped her arms around them in return.

“Hey, Padfoot,” she greeted.

“I’ve been waiting all morning,” he said quietly and hugging her tighter.

“I couldn’t have gotten here earlier than I did. The Hogwarts Express only left an hour ago,” Hermione replied.

He pulled away from her and held her at arm’s length, checking her over.

“You’ve grown,” he said with a small smile.

She grinned. “Or maybe you’re just shrinking in your old age.”

“OLD AGE!” he yelled and she burst out laughing.

“I missed you, Padfoot,” she said quietly.

“I missed you too, Kitten,” he hugged her once more.

“How’s Mr. Weasley? Professor McGonagall told me what happened.”

Sirius sighed. “He should be fine. He’s healing well, but we can’t be sure when he’ll be released. Molly’s at the hospital, Ron, Harry, the twins and Ginny are in their rooms.”

“How are they?”

“Harry hasn’t left his room since they got here. The others are quiet.”

“And how is Kreacher?”

Sirius scowled at her. “I don’t even know why you bother asking about him.”

“He’s a person too.”

“Technically he’s a house-elf.”

“Let’s not start an argument,” she sighed. “I actually wanted to talk to you.”

“About?” he raised an eyebrow and she shifted on her feet and bit her lip.

“It’s complicated. I need to unpack, can we talk after dinner?”

“Of course, Kitten.” She went to leave the room. “Jason tells me that you don’t require any more lessons,” he grinned at her.

“Yes?”

“I want a demonstration.”

Hermione couldn’t stop laughing at his goofy grin.

“We’ll see,” she replied, and with that, she left the room and headed to her bedroom.

It was exactly the way she had left it. With a flick of her wand, she had everything moving around the room and packed into the right places. She loved that she could use magic out of school. She then turned on her heel and made her way to the floor above, where she knocked on Fred’s and George’s bedroom door.

She heard a muffled reply and opened the door, stepping into the room and closing the door behind her. The twins were both laying down on their beds on their stomachs and facing away from her. She looked around. The room had two double beds on either side of the room, with white bedding. The walls were white and there was dark wooden flooring. There were two chests of draws on the left wall, side by side along with a desk and two wardrobes on the right wall, with a magically installed bay window in the middle of them.

“Would you boys care to be my victims?” she spoke.

They immediately sat up and turned to face her in surprise. Her heart clenched when she saw them. Their usually sparkling eyes were dull and their joyous smiles were replaced by frowns and sadness.

“Sirius wants a demonstration as proof that I no longer require lessons from Jason. Taking on the both of you would be impressive,” she mused and she noticed that their mouths twitched. “Although we could use Ronald, he’s a lot stronger than me, could you drag him down the stairs for me? We could just use magic to get him down there, but where would be the fun in that?”

A small smile graced their faces and she felt herself smile in return.

“You’re here,” they said quietly.

“Hmm, so I am? It is Christmas you know? Did you expect me to stay at school all on my lonesome? Couldn’t do that, imagine the mischief I could get up too, poor Filch,” she shook her head and their smiles widened a fraction.

“Do you want a hug?” she asked them softly. Their eyes widened slightly, knowing that she didn’t like to be touched. She could touch other people but it was nowhere near anything as intimate as a hug.

“Do you think you can do that?” Fred asked her gently.

She took a deep breath. “For you? I could try.” That’s when their faces lit up into true smiles and she smiled softly.

They got up from their beds and made their way towards her slowly, giving her the opportunity to change her mind, but she didn’t. When they stopped in front of her she stood up on her tiptoes and pulled them both into a hug. She felt their arms wrap around her back and waist and she tensed, but before they could let go of her, she forced herself to relax and they felt the tension leave her body and they smiled.

“I promise he’ll be alright,” she whispered.

“Don’t make promises you can’t keep, Hermione,” Fred muttered with his head buried in her neck, and his twin mimicked his position on the other side.

“I always keep my promises. I promise he’ll be alright,” she spoke with conviction and they sighed and held her tighter.

They stood there with her in their arms for what felt like hours before the silence was finally broken.

“You said something about using Ron as a victim?”

Hermione laughed loudly. 


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Page Count: 7

**12 Grimmauld Place - Thursday 21st December 1995**

Hermione had eaten dinner in the kitchen along with Sirius, Remus, Molly, the twins, Ron and Ginny. Harry had refused to come out of his bedroom and the atmosphere in the room had been sombre and tense. The twins seemed a little more joyful than they had been and Remus and Sirius had shared amused looks, as they noticed that the twins’ eyes kept darting between their food and Hermione.

When everyone else went to the living room, Hermione filled a plate with food and took it up to the second floor, knocking on Harry’s door.

She received no reply. She knocked again. No reply. She knocked on the door louder and didn’t stop until Harry yelled for her to ‘go away.’

Hermione was angry with the way Harry was behaving. Her eyes narrowed on the door and a gust of wind slammed into it, forcing it to open and it slammed against the wall.

Harry had jumped up from his bed in shock.

“What the hell do you think you’re do...Hermione! You’re back,” he blinked dumbly.

“Obviously, I’ve been back for seven hours, but you’d know that if you stopped feeling sorry for yourself and got your lazy arse downstairs, instead of being selfish and locking yourself in your room,” she spoke coldly, and he gawked at her. “There are a lot more pressing things going on in the world, Harry, that believe it or not, need more attention than you. You dreamt about Mr. Weasley being attacked, that’s wonderful and you saved his life. Now stop being such a child.” She put his food down on the floor and then walked out of the room, slamming the door shut behind her and waking up Mrs. Black’s portrait.

She stormed down the stairs and when she reached Mrs. Black’s portrait, she glared at her fiercely and Mrs. Black almost fell off her chair in shock, but thankfully she did stop shouting. Hermione closed the curtains and then went into the study where she knew Remus and Sirius would be waiting for her.

“Don’t you think you were a bit harsh?” Sirius said, as she entered the study and shut the door behind her, casting Locking and Silencing Charms.

“No, he’s been a pain in my arse for months. All he does is brood and complain. As much I love him, the world doesn’t revolve around him and I have my own horrors to deal with. I guess I finally snapped,” she answered, taking a seat in the large leather armchair behind the desk and next to Remus.

“What did you want to talk about?” Remus asked, changing the subject

“I’ve noticed some things, strange things. My magic has been different; I can do things that should be impossible. I’ve spent the last week researching and everything I’ve found all say the same thing. That what I know I can do is impossible.”

“And what is it you can do?” Sirius asked with a raised eyebrow.

Hermione conjured a glass before filling it will water. She put her wand out of reach and they looked at her curiously. Hermione took a deep breath and then focused her attention on the glass. Her eyes narrowed and she stared at it, her gaze never wavering.

“Hermione, what are you...”

Hermione shushed him.

“But...”

She shushed him again.

Her gaze narrowed further and the glass began to shake. Suddenly the water erupted from the glass and into the air.

Both Sirius and Reus flinched, expecting to get showered with cold water, but it never came. They opened their eyes to see the water floating in mid-air and they looked at Hermione in shock.

“I’m doing it, I’m controlling the movements,” she spoke, her eyes still on the water.

To prove her point she had the blob of water mould into a star, then a flower before settling for a cat. She reached over for her wand and cast a Freezing Charm. The water froze leaving behind a cat figurine and Hermione caught it when it fell and she handed it to Remus.

“How did you do that?” he asked quietly, staring between Hermione and the cat he held in his hand.

“I don’t know. I first did it yesterday. I was just staring at a glass of water in my room and it suddenly erupted. I noticed that I could control it and then an image popped into my head. I thought of a dog and the water moulded into the shape. I tried several more times afterwards and I was able to mould a dragon, an eagle and a mermaid. It gets easier the more I do it; it doesn’t take as much focus. All the research I’ve done says that nothing can control the elements, at least not in the way I can.”

“That was just one, Hermione, water,” Sirius said, looking a little surprised.

“Not just water.”

She stood up and then walked over to the lit fireplace and they got up and followed her. She knelt down and put her hand in the fire.

“HERMIONE, NO!” Remus and Sirius yelled, but Hermione didn’t scream in pain, she just looked at the flames mesmerised.

“It doesn’t hurt. I can feel the warmth of the fire hitting my face, but the fire surrounding my hand is cool.”

They watched enraptured as she pulled her hand away from the fire and the flames followed her, stretching out of the fireplace to caress her fingertips.

“Fire,” she whispered.

She then stood up and turned around, focusing her attention on the book that laid on Sirius’ large, dark wooden desk. She narrowed her eyes, focusing on it. They saw a small tornado appear in front of her and it moved over to the table, it pushed the book off the table and carried it over to her, dropping it into her hands.

“Air,” she said quietly and she turned to face them. Their mouths were hung open.

“Three of the five elements,” Remus muttered in disbelief.

“No, my first magical act was growing back the entire garden of my house. It had been ruined after days of torrential rain. I was sad and I started to cry. When I opened my eyes all the water had vanished and the mud had dried up. Flowers started growing, coming back to life. I haven’t done anything like that recently though.”

“Earth, that just leaves...”

“Quintessence,” Hermione nodded. “Quintessence is said to have many abilities, one of them in which is lightning. You’ve already witnessed it.”

Sirius and Remus sat down on the brown leather couch and stared at the floor.

“Do you know what it is? Do you know what’s happening to me?”

“I remember reading something in a book when I was younger. I’ll search the library for the book and re-read it. Everything in the Black library is dark, extremely rare or illegal. It’s why you haven’t found any useful information pertaining to what you want to know. But if I’m right and you are what I think you are, the outcome of this war will be affected massively.”

“What am I?”

“I think it’s best if you let me find that book first, Kitten,” Sirius said softly. She bit her lip, but nodded. “So change of subject. Want to tell me why Fred and George can’t stop staring at you?” he smirked at her when she blushed.

“It’s nothing,” she muttered and she shuffled on her feet, looking down at the floor.

“Tell that to the lovey eyes they were making when you weren’t looking,” Remus laughed. “They’re a lot more joyous than they had been and it’s all due to your arrival.”

“What’s going on Kitten?” She mumbled her answer. “Didn’t quite catch that.” She mumbled again. “Or that,” Sirius said amused.

She sighed. “They’ve taken me on two dates so far.” She looked up from the floor to see that they both had shocked looks on their faces before they turned into small smiles.

“Oh yeah? When did this come about?”

“They know about everything.”

“I assumed they might, their behaviour was a little off during the summer.”

“Apparently they heard about what happened and knew about the trial. They disillusioned themselves and followed us to the trial. That’s how they know. They were always making me laugh, distracting me, changing the topic of conversation when things became difficult, they kept my secret and stopped people from finding out. They asked me for lessons on how to cast a Patronus and I’ve been teaching them. I gave them detention and we had a chat. Almost a week later they revealed that they liked me, I had an emotional meltdown before they talked me down from it and I agreed to go on a date with them,” she was blushing furiously.

“How are they treating you?” Sirius asked.

“Very well, better than I deserve to be honest. They are patient with me, they don’t get offended when I flinch or shy away from their touch. They’ve stopped calling me ‘Granger’ because they know it upsets me. They keep things light, but they listen when I tell them about my past. They don’t judge me. They make me laugh,” she shrugged. 

“Well that’s good to know, you deserve only the best, Kitten.”

“I hugged them.”

“You hugged them or they hugged you?”

“I hugged them. I tensed but I was able to relax.” He smiled at her. “You won’t tell anyone, will you? Everything is still in the early stages and it’s going well. I don’t want to jinx it. We’re not keeping it a secret around school, but no one’s noticed because we spend most of our time together in the Room of Requirements or the library. If Ron found out he would be cruel beyond belief.”

“I’m sure he wouldn’t,” Remus said softly.

“He would. The night of my first date with the twins, I walked through the common room. Ron asked me if I had homework to do. When I told him I had a date he laughed at me and he said and I quote, ‘who’d want to date you?’ It really hurt my feelings,” she said quietly and she heard a dog-like growl rip from Sirius.

He stood up and hugged her to him. “Don’t you dare listen to the little shit. You are special, so special in fact you have two boys pursuing you, and twins no less.” She couldn’t stop the chuckle. “Now, off you go and I’ll look for that book.”

“Night, Padfoot, Remus,” she kissed their cheeks, removed the charms from the room and left.

“Well, that was interesting.”

“Try fucking terrifying, Moony,” Sirius replied and he started pacing.

“Why is it...” he was cut off when the twins knocked on the door and stepped into the room.

“Can we talk to you about something?” Fred asked.

Sirius looked at them and nodded and they walked further into the room, locking and silencing it behind them.

“What’s this about, boys?” Sirius asked as he made his way over to the bar and poured himself a tumbler of fire whiskey.

“Hermione,” they both answered.

“We’ve noticed strange occurrences with her magic,” George said. Sirius turned around to look at them.

“Explain,” he demanded.

“Well, when we walked into the great hall last week, Hermione was staring at this plate of pancakes at the other end of the table. We saw a tiny tornado move past her and down the table, it then pushed the plate of pancakes towards her until it rested in front of her.”

“Did anyone else see?” he asked them, they weren’t surprised that he didn’t seem shocked to hear about it.

“No, just us,” George answered.

“Anything else?”

“Hermione created a thunder and lightning storm, almost flooded the Room of Requirement, that was back at the beginning of December.”

“She’s done that before,” Remus said.

“We know, she told us that it’s happened four times since her fourth year.”

That was news to them.

“Well, thank you for bringing this information to us, unfortunately, Hermione beat you here. She just left.”

“Do you know what it is?” the other twin asked.

“I have my suspicions, nothing confirmed yet,” he replied and then he took a sip from his tumbler. “Hermione tells me that you’ve taken a shine to her,” he said, slipping into his father role and he took pleasure in seeing them gulp and nod nervously. He leaned back against his desk and Remus chuckled and shook his head at his friend’s behaviour.

“We’ve taken her on a couple of dates and she’s teaching us to cast a Patronus,” one twin spoke.

“I know, she told me.”

“You really don’t have secrets,” the other twin muttered, but Sirius heard.

“No, we don’t.” He stared the boys down and they shifted in her seats. “I’m going to be frank with you boys.”

“We’d much rather you be, Serious,” a twin said nervously. Sirius started laughing.

“Nice wordplay,” his laughter suddenly stopped. “I know you’re good men, anyone with a father like Arthur Weasley is bound to turn out well. You’re respectful when the time calls for it and you are intelligent. You make Hermione laugh and smile and I’ve seen it with my own eyes. Judging by all the blushing she’s been doing, she likes you both. I don’t have any problem with a triadic relationship, Hermione needs two men to handle her,” he said proudly. “Hermione has had an incredibly difficult and traumatising life. My point is, if you hurt her or make her do anything she doesn’t want to do, I will make sure that the only thing you fear in this world is me. I’ve been to hell and I don’t mind taking you for a visit.”

The twins had gone pale and they gulped.

“We would never hurt her, Sirius,” one twin said.

“Yeah, she scares the hell out of us,” the other twins spoke. “She’s dangerous with a wand.”

“And we’ve seen how dangerous she is without a wand. We walked in on her self defence lesson. That trainer of hers was getting his arse kicked.”

“That’s my girl,” Sirius said proudly.

“She’s been opening up to us about her past; she’s starting to trust us. We wouldn’t jeopardise that for anything.”

“We would never force her to do anything. We never make the first move, we don’t touch her. Only when she makes contact first.”

“Glad that we’re on the same page,” Sirius nodded. The twins stood and all but ran from the room after the charms were cancelled.

“They’ll be good for her,” Remus commented.

“I’ve already seen a difference in her,” Sirius spoke in agreement. He downed the rest of his fire whiskey and then he started to pace again.

“What has you so on edge?” Remus asked.

“I hope I’m wrong about Hermione, if I’m not then her life will never be the same. She’ll be a target.”

“She already is.”

“She’ll be a bigger target than Harry and Dumbledore combined, Moony,” Sirius spoke, looking distressed.

“It’s that bad?” he whispered.

“It’s that bad,” he confirmed.


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Page Count:10

**12 Grimmauld Place - Monday 25th December 1995**

Early Christmas morning Hermione awoke screaming. She automatically gripped her necklace.

 _‘Padfoot,’_ she thought.

 _‘I know, Kitten, I’m on my way,’_ he replied. 

She sat up in bed and wrapped her arms around her knees, sobbing into her arms as she waited for Sirius to come to her.

Sirius leapt out of bed and made his way down to Hermione’s floor, just as he reached Hermione’s room, Harry came up the stairs with a glass of pumpkin juice in his hand.

When he saw Sirius he stopped.

“Why are you going into Hermione’s room?”

Sirius looked at his Godson, he hadn’t seen him since he arrived. It seemed Hermione’s words four days ago had no effect on him.

“Does it matter?”

“If you’re going in there to sha...”

“For Merlin’s sake, Harry! I would never look at Hermione that way. I’m ashamed that you would even think that about your friend. Hermione is going through a difficult time right now... ”

“And I’m not?” Harry cut him off.

“So is Hermione, she’s had a very difficult childhood...”

“More so than me?”

“Yes,” Sirius said without hesitation. “I love you Harry, and I will always support you, but right now Hermione needs me too.” Sirius turned around and whispered the password, the door opened and he slipped inside, Harry could hear Hermione’s cries until Sirius shut the door.

Sirius changed into Padfoot and climbed onto the bed and Hermione immediately clung to him, crying into his fur.

Half an hour later she’d calmed down.

“I can’t do this anymore, Padfoot.”

Padfoot’s head snapped up and looked at her fearfully. He shifted out of the hold she had on him and he turned back into Sirius.

“What?” he asked quickly.

“I can’t do this anymore,” she whispered. Sirius grabbed her by the arms and pulled her up, shaking her slightly with his grip on her.

“No, you are not going to harm yourself, I won’t let you!”

“I can’t be a Granger anymore,” she said quietly, and he immediately relaxed and breathed a sigh of relief that she wasn’t contemplating hurting herself. He pulled her to him and hugged her tightly. “I can’t be related to those people. I hate having their name. I don’t want to be a Granger anymore. I don’t want to be reminded of what they did to me. Every time someone says my name I remember. I want to change my name.”

“We will, I’ll go to the Ministry and get the right forms. We’ll fill out the paperwork and have it filed.”

“I need a new name now. I can have any name in the world. Any suggestions?”

“I know just the one.”

“What?”

“It’s a surprise.”

~000~000~000~

Sirius was thankful that the Ministry was open twenty-four hours and seven days a week. As soon as Hermione had fallen asleep, he left her room and returned to his own, he showered and dressed and then slipped out of Grimmauld, heading straight to the Ministry to get the forms he needed.

When he returned only Mrs. Weasley was awake and she was cooking breakfast in the kitchen.

“And where have you been?” she asked as she would a teenager that was late for curfew.

“I had something I had to get for Hermione,” he replied. At his words her frown immediately dropped, she nodded and left him alone.

When everyone was up, breakfast was eaten and The Weasleys left to the hospital to visit Mr. Weasley, Sirius pulled Hermione into his study and handed her the forms.

“These aren’t name changing forms, these are adoption forms,” Hermione whispered, looking down at the paperwork that had already been filled out by Sirius. She’d recognised the messy handwriting anywhere.

“I’m already your guardian, I already think of you as a daughter. I thought we could make it official, even if you are technically of age, but the Ministry won’t see you as of age until next year, so by age you’re seventeen, by law you’re sixteen,” he said confidently, but when Hermione looked up at him, she could see the anxiety and fear of rejection flittering in his eyes.

Without needing to take a moment to think it over, she picked up the quill and signed her name on the dotted line, becoming the daughter of Lord Black, becoming Hermione Black. Sirius stared at her in joyous surprise.

“You’re the only person I’ve considered to be a father, besides Mr. Weasley. It’d be an honour to wear the Black name with pride. Not the name of your ancestors and the name that holds fear. But your name, the Black name that means strength, honesty and protection.” He smiled at her softly. “That’s what you are Sirius, and if you can put your past behind you, then so can I”

“I don’t doubt it, Kitten. The paperwork will take a couple of weeks to be filed, but then you’ll be Hermione Black, my daughter.”

Hermione had tears in her eyes and she struggled to keep them from falling as she hugged him tightly.

“You’re protected now.” She appeared to be confused by his statement. “Now that you’re my daughter, your blood status will change. Legally you’ll be a Pureblood although your blood can’t and won’t change, your status will. All magical folk will have no choice but to view you as a Pureblood. It’s a Pureblood law that was written centuries ago when Purebloods were struggling to procreate. They had to bring in new blood into the bloodline, the only way to do that is by adopting. If anyone calls you anything less than a Pureblood or insults your lineage, it’ll be an insult to the House of Black.”

“Are you telling me that Pureblood lines actually have Muggle lineage?”

“Yes, they don’t advertise the fact; they’re ashamed that the inbreeding is killing them off.”

“I don’t believe it!” she exclaimed. “Those lying, pompous, narcissistic, slimy arseholes!”

“You just insulted yourself, Kitten,” Sirius chuckled. “Not all Pureblood families have muggle lineage, just The Parkinsons, Greengrasses, Flints, Puceys, Bulstroudes and a few others. You are the first to be adopted into the Black family. It’s why everyone’s so insane, the inbreeding. The bloodline wasn’t changed when it should’ve been.”

“How am I safe, we’re blood traitors?”

“But we’re still Purebloods, haven’t you noticed there have been far less Purebloods killed than any other blood status? Purebloods are still Purebloods. They don’t want to kill us and wipe out a line of magic. Instead, they will convince us to go over to their side, enslave us or use the Imperius on us. Being a blood traitor still gives you more protection than being a Muggleborn, being a Black gives you even more so. We are the second wealthiest house in Europe, not far behind The Malfoys.”

“Egotistical prats,” Hermione muttered and he snorted at her. “You’ll be a lot safer as my daughter”

“And we’ll both have family,” she said quietly. “I’ll never be able to give you a better present than this,” she muttered.

He chuckled. “You agreeing to be my daughter is the best present I will and could ever receive,” he said honestly.

“Still, I do have a gift for you that I think you’ll like.” She grabbed his hand and pulled him out of his study and down towards his mother’s portrait.

Sirius stared before he burst into laughter; Hermione had done exactly what she told the twins she would do. She’d enlarged the drawing of the ogre Fred had done and placed it over Mrs. Black’s face; you could faintly hear outraged shrieks coming from behind it.

“That’s brilliant,” he said through his laughter and she beamed.

“Fred drew it and I asked him if I could keep it.”

“I’m glad you did, it’s a massive improvement.”

When they heard the floo roar to life, they stepped into the main living room to see The Weasleys stepping out one by one, including Mr. Weasley.

Hermione and Sirius beamed at them and greeted them. The atmosphere was much more gleeful at that moment.

Mr. Weasley still wasn’t fully healed, but he should be within a couple of weeks. He was sat in a wheelchair and had bandages covering most of his body, but he wore a beaming smile and his eyes twinkled in a fashion similar to that of Dumbledore.

Mrs. Weasley immediately set to work preparing Christmas dinner and everyone spent time together in the living room, chatting happily. When dinner was ready Hermione went up to Harry’s room and opened the door without even bothering to knock, knowing he wouldn’t answer it anyway.

“Christmas dinner is ready, Mr. Weasley has been released from the hospital and is downstairs.” Hermione then turned around and went to leave.

“What’s going on between you and Sirius?” she heard Harry’s tone bite out.

“Nothing,” she replied, turning around to face him.

“I saw him going into your room. Why aren’t you sharing with Ginny? What’s going on with Sirius?”

“That’s none of your business,” her spine stiffened.

“He’s my Godfather.” he snapped at her, storming towards her.

“And he’s my father,” she replied coldly and then she turned around and left him gawking and spluttering.

Hermione went back downstairs and into the kitchen, where food was being passed around and heartily dug into.

Hermione sat in-between Sirius and Remus, she had barely been sat for five minutes when Harry stormed into the room, slamming the door open and it hit against the wall, causing all talk and laughter to cease.

“What the hell do you mean Sirius is your father?” he asked glaring at her. Everyone turned to look at her in surprise as his words.

“Exactly that, he is my father,” she answered.

“And she is legally my daughter,” Sirius replied with a shrug and he put a fork full of food into his mouth, not bothering with Harry’s apparent mood. He was hungry, it could wait.

“What?” he snapped.

“You’re giving me a headache,” Hermione warned.

Sirius turned his eyes to Hermione when she spoke in that dark tone. He shared a look with Remus, both worried for what might happen should Harry continue to antagonise her. They both agreed to keep their attention on Hermione as they couldn’t risk her losing control of her magic, if they had to, they would remove her from the situation.

“How the bloody hell is Sirius your father?” Harry raged.

“I adopted her this morning,” Sirius said simply and that had everyone gasping.

“So now you’re stealing my Godfather from me? What happened to your parents?”

“They’re in prison for being drunk, abusive and rapists!” Hermione snapped and then she stood, her chair flying across the room as her magic began to take over.

She then left the room, the door slamming behind her without her even touching it.

“What?” Ginny, Ron and Harry all said quietly. 

“Hermione’s parents abused her from the age of four, and her father sexually abused her from the age of eleven,” Sirius replied, his voice sending a chill down their spines. “I told you Hermione’s had a far more traumatic childhood than you. I’m not condoning the way you were and are still treated, but you were never forced to do the things she did.” He then stood and left the room, Remus soon followed.

Fred and George looked at each other and in agreement, they both stood and made to leave the room.

“Where the hell are you going?” Ron muttered.

“To Hermione,” they replied.

“Why the hell would you do that?” he asked gruffly.

“She’s our girlfriend,” Fred answered, glaring at his brother. Everyone gaped in shock, especially Mrs. Weasley.

“Just because you can’t see her for how beautiful she is, doesn’t mean no one else can, or that no one else hasn’t noticed, because I assure you, we certainly have,” George said and then they both left the room.

“She’s not our girlfriend,” George spoke as they climbed the stairs.

“Yet,” Fred replied and George smirked at his twin, he liked his thinking.

When they reached Hermione’s room they knocked on the door, not only for her privacy, but also because they wouldn’t be able to enter without the password that was protecting the only entrance into the room, and there were only two men that knew the password, and they wouldn’t give it up even on their death beds.

“It’s us,” they spoke together. They heard her sobs stop before the door opened for them. They stepped inside and closed the door behind them.

Hermione was sat on her bed with her arms around her knees that were drawn up to her chest and they could hear sniffles, as she slowly calmed herself down. They made their way over to her and sat on either side of her but they were careful not to touch her.

Their presence alone seemed to calm her, soon after Hermione’s sniffles had stopped and the room was plunged into silence.

“You didn’t tell us that Sirius was adopting you,” Fred spoke, breaking the silence. Hermione looked at them both to see that they looked a little hurt.

“I didn’t know,” she replied honestly. “I only found out myself when you left to visit your father at the hospital this morning.” They nodded, the hurt disappearing from their faces to be replaced with understanding.

“So, everyone now knows,” Fred commented. Hermione nodded.

“They also know about us,” George said lightly.

“Us?” she asked with a raised eyebrow.

“That you’re our girlfriend,” he confirmed. Hermione tilted her head slightly. “Right?” he looked a little nervous. A small smile tugged at her lips and she nodded. She heard them both sigh in relief.

“We’ve got a girlfriend,” George said smugly.

“So I heard,” Fred laughed.

“How did they find out, not that it’s a secret but they’ve been clueless at school?” she asked.

“Ron, he asked us why we were coming to see you.”

“I’ve never seen him so shocked,” George chuckled. “Almost chocked on the chicken he stuffed in his mouth.”

“So, Lady Black?” Fred said. Hermione nodded. “I like it, it suits you.”

“Sirius said it’ll offer me protection in the war.”

“How so?” they asked her.

Hermione proceeded to tell them everything she’d learned from Sirius regarding Pureblood lineages and they stared in shock, before laughing.

“Next time Parkinson sneers at us for being blood traitors, I’m going to inform her that at least I have a full magical lineage, unlike her family, imagine the look on her face,” George spoke with a devious grin, looking far too pleased with the prospect and they chuckled at him.

“When will it be finalised?” Fred asked her.

“Sirius said a couple of weeks, I’ll be Hermione Black, then everyone will likely know.”

“At least Malfoy will be stunned into silence, you’ll be his third cousin, if we’re lucky, he may even swallow his own tongue, or better yet, choke on the fumes from his Gelling Potion,” George smirked.

“Lovely, I’m related to the bouncing ferret,” she replied sarcastically and they laughed at her.

~000~000~000~

**Saturday 30th December 1995**

Five days later and Ron, Ginny and Harry had yet to speak to her, not that it bothered her to be honest and the twins spent more time with her now that everyone knew about them. They no longer felt the need to be subtle with their actions towards her.

They were sat together in the library when Ginny and Ron entered. Fred and George were in the process of telling a story to Hermione, that had her holding her sides as loud laughter left her. The twins were also laughing, making their words harder to understand.

“Why didn’t you tell us?” Hermione and the twins immediately stopped laughing and they all turned to look at the new arrivals.

“What?” Hermione frowned.

“Why didn’t you tell us?” Ginny asked with a glare.

Hermione stood up and returned her glare.

“First of all, it’s none of your business. Second of all, you wouldn’t understand. You have the perfect family, loving parents and protective older brothers that would kill for you. And lastly, I don’t trust you.”

The twins were surprised by her last statement.

“Don’t think that I don’t know what you did because I do. You’ve been spreading rumours about me since your third year, you’re the one that told Parkinson that Harry and I were dating, in turn, she told Skeeter and I was attacked by Viktor’s fans. You’ve got a problem with me because Harry doesn’t pay attention to you, I’m the only girl Harry does interact with and that’s got you pissed, you’re jealous. I watch everything I say around you because I have to.”

She then looked at Ron.

“And you, I don’t particularly trust you either, at times you’re even crueller than Malfoy. If you ever found out about my past then you would’ve used it against me.” His ears turned bright red.

Hermione then walked past them and out of the library. When she reached the door, she turned around to see an angry Ginny glaring daggers at her, her hand twitching as though she were wishing she had access to her wand.

“If my past ever comes to light and it starts spreading around Hogwarts, I will know it’s the fault of one of you. Harry may be in a shitty mood lately, but he’d never betray my secrets, especially one as traumatic as this.”

“And what exactly are you going to do?” Ginny challenged.

“I’m a Black, we are not known for being forgiving people,” Hermione responded and then she stormed out of the room, the door slamming behind her once more, without her touching it.

The twins looked at each other in awe, both with the same thought.

_‘That’s our girlfriend.’_

“What do you see in her anyway?” Ron grumbled. “She’s not pretty, she’s bossy, she’s a know-it-all, she’s nothing.”

“That’s where you’re wrong,” George spoke coldly. “She’s not pretty because she’s beautiful, she’s is bossy but she’s caring and selfless too.”

“She’s incredibly intelligent and hard-working, she’s strong and she’s a fighter,” Fred injected. They both then went to leave the library.

“I’d leave her alone if I were you, Ginny,” George said, looking at his little sister.

“We’ve seen what Hermione’s capable of,” Fred clarified.

“So have I,” she responded, standing up tall and crossing her arms over her chest.

“No, you haven’t,” George shook his head, knowing his sister had no idea what she would be getting herself into should she decide to take on Hermione. The Bat Bogey Hex they’d taught her all those years ago wouldn’t stand a chance against Hermione’s power.

“What you’ve seen in D.A. is nothing compared to what we’ve seen her do, nothing!” 

~000~000~000~

**Saturday 6th January 1996**

“I’m sorry, Hermione,” Harry apologized.

They both looked at each other; Hermione sat on a leather armchair in the library and Harry shifting awkwardly on his feet in front of her.

Hermione had been expecting this for a while now. He hadn’t spoken to her since Christmas day, and in all honesty, she thought it would’ve taken longer for him to come to her.

“I didn’t know about your parents.”

“That’s because I didn’t want anyone to know, it’s not something I’m proud of, Harry.”

“How did they know?”

“The alarm, apparently since Voldemort’s return Dumbledore has put an alarm an all students’ houses that live in the Muggle World. They were alerted to something at my house. He, Sirius and Remus came to my house and found my father trying to rape me. My parents were arrested and Sirius was made my legal guardian. A week later there was a trial. Mr. and Mr. Weasley came with us, along with Professor McGonagall. Fred and George disillusioned themselves and followed us. My parents were sentenced to prison; my father twenty-five years to life and my mother got sixteen to twenty years in prison.”

“I’m sorry, Hermione, I don’t know what’s wrong with me. I should’ve known there was nothing going on between you and Sirius.”

“Sirius has been really good to me and he’s helping me deal with it all. I told him that I couldn’t be a Granger anymore. He surprised me with the adoption forms that morning,” she said with a smile on her face.

Harry moved forward and went to touch her, but she flinched away.

“Sorry,” she sighed when she saw his hurt look.

“Have you always been like this?” he whispered.

“Yes, but it’s worse since my father tried to rape me,” she said quietly. “The only people that can touch me are Sirius and Remus. I flinch when someone tries to touch me. I have trouble breathing in corridors at school. I jump when someone leans over me at the table, I can’t even be hugged by Mrs. Weasley! I was good at hiding the bruises, Glamour Charms were the first form of magic that I learned, my weight problems were covered by my uniform and I quickly put on weight with the food from the house-elves.”

“What about the twins?”

A smile lit her face. “I found out they knew at the beginning of December, they asked me to teach them to cast a Patronus. A week or so later we had our first date, then our second. Now I’m their girlfriend.”

“Can they touch you?”

“No, not unless I touch them first, but they understand and they’re helping me. I hugged them when I first arrived for the holidays. That might not seem like a big thing to you, but it is to me. It’s like Ron eating with his mouth closed.” He couldn’t stop himself from laughing at her comment.

“I’m sorry,” he sighed.

“Stop saying that, it’s annoying.”

“Sorry,” he replied. They both laughed when she glared at him.

“You know this means we’re related now?” she said. A look of understanding crossed his features before a smile lit his face.

“We’re family now,”

“We are,” she agreed.

~000~000~000~

Later that night Sirius and Remus called her to the study and Hermione had a feeling she knew what it was about.

Sirius and Remus both sat on the leather couch, and she sat on the other opposite them. She noticed that Sirius looked a lot more stressed and tenser than Remus, meaning he was just as in the dark as she was.

“You found the book?”

“I did,” he nodded

“You read it?”

“I did.”

“You know what’s happening to me? Why can I control the elements? Who am I?”

“That’s the wrong question, Kitten,” he said softly. “You should be asking _what_ am I?”

She gulped. “What am I?” she whispered fearfully.

The room was silent for a short while before he finally spoke.

“A Blue Mage.”


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Page Count: 8

**12 Grimmauld Place – Saturday 6th January 1996**

“No, it can’t be,” she heard Remus whisper. Sirius turned to Remus and looked at him sadly.

“It is; it’s the only thing even remotely plausible,” he said quietly.

“But, it can’t be,” he looked at Sirius fearfully and he now understood why Sirius had been so afraid.

“What’s a Blue Mage?” Hermione asked confused.

They both looked at her and she noticed they were both tense.

“A Blue Mage is a magical being that is able to control the elements. She is the only thing that can control the elements, that is why I am certain that you are one.”

“I’ve never heard of them, why do you look so worried?”

“Kitten, Blue Mages are essentially warriors, good-doers, they exist to protect the world. They usually don’t choose sides, staying neutral and making sure that too much damage isn’t done, they usually stay in the background. They are known for their ability to control the five elements: Earth, Air, Water, Fire and Quintessence. The last element of Quintessence shows itself in a different ability with each Blue Mage. For example, the last Blue Mage had the power of telekinesis, and the one before that had the power of astral projection. In your case it’s the ability to control lightning, much cooler if you ask me,” he said trying to lighten the mood.

“How come I’ve never heard of them?” she asked quietly.

“They’re almost non-existent. There’s only one Blue Mage born every five hundred years, the last one was born in America, South Carolina. You are the only Blue Mage for the next five hundred years, they are born to the continent that is in most need of them and in this case it would be Europe, given the times that we’ve been in for the last six decades.”

“But, I can’t be,” she muttered.

“There’s a test that can be done, but I am one hundred percent positive that you are a Blue Mage, there is nothing, and I mean nothing that can control the elements for except them.”

“Why?”

“Legend has it that the Blue Mage is Mother Nature herself, that she is the creator of all magic, she is the reason magic exists as well as magical creatures. They say that she is the Goddess of Magic, the Mother of Magic, and therefore, she is always treated with respect and honour, even the cruellest of people would never disrespect a Blue Mage. You are essentially Mother Nature.”

“Why me?”

“I can’t answer that, Kitten, no one knows how or why the next Blue Mage is chosen, she just is. When the next Blue Mage is born, the previous Blue Mage will finally find her peace in the afterlife and her powers will be passed on. It’s always a woman and from what I can tell, she’s always a Muggleborn, likely because your blood isn’t polluted through inbreeding, your blood is the purest of all witches and wizards, which makes your magic more potent. For whatever reason, you were chosen to be the next Blue Mage. You will live to the age of five hundred and until the next Blue Mage is born, it could be anywhere in the world, but there can only be one at a time and that is now you.”

She was sat there frozen.

“Why is this only happening now?” she whispered, finally blinking.

“You’re seventeen, you’ve become an adult and that means you’ve come into your heritage. You started having outbursts when you were sixteen, correct?” she nodded. “That was your powers coming into your blood, they would slowly fill your body until your seventeenth birthday, at which point they would come into full force. It’s why you can suddenly control the elements. It’s a natural ability for you and therefore it won’t take much for you to learn how to perfect control. Likely a couple hours a week for a few weeks and then you’ll have mastered them. The only problem is your emotions; your powers are tied into them. When you feel fear, sadness or anger you will likely lose control of your powers and it will affect whatever element it is tied into.”

“It makes sense,” she whispered. “Fear and anger are tied into thunder and lightning storms and sadness ties into rain.”

“You’re the Blue Mage for the next five hundred years.”

“What will happen to me?”

“You won’t age, not typically anyway, the book I found states you will stop ageing between thirty and sixty years old.”

“So I’m just supposed to watch everyone die?” she whispered.

“No, Blue Mages are powerful, but they can be killed. You can live to the age of five hundred, but you can also die before that. However, it is an unforgivable crime to kill a Blue Mage, no matter her age. No one knows what happens to those that harm a Blue Mage, because it’s never happened before, people are too scared to even think about harming you. This gives you protection, but not your family. If someone wishes to cause you pain, they will likely go for those you care for, but that will result in retaliation from you, which wouldn’t bode for those involved.”

“How will this affect this war?”

“That’s up to you, Kitten,” he said softly. “As I said, traditionally Blue Mages stay neutral, they keep the balance in the world. Along with their mates they...”

“Mates?” she interrupted.

“A Blue Mage must have someone to balance her, someone to help regulate her magic, someone to help remain her in control. The average Blue Mage has two. They are her companions in life, her happiness, her laughter, they are her everything,” he said softly. “It’s your choice who you choose, but those that you do will be treated with the same respect that is bestowed upon you. They are your equals. You have centuries to find those that make you happy, so you don’t need to worry about it for the time being.”

“Will people find out? Can it be kept a secret?”

“I’m sorry to say it can’t, Kitten,” he said sadly. “Now that you’ve been found, your powers will continue to grow and it won’t be long before people begin to notice. It’s best if we do the test and inform The Ministry ourselves, that way we can control what others know.”

“Then the public will know.”

“Yes, and so will the enemy side. You will be contacted by Him, he’ll try to convince you to fight for his side, but the decision is yours, it would be best if you stay neutral in this war.” He could see she was going to argue with him. “Kitten, it’s in your best interest if you stay neutral. You have four hundred and eighty-three years to live before the next Blue Mage is born. If you die before that your magic will not be able to pass on to its next owner and it will be without a protector and that cannot be allowed to happen. Magic such as yours without a body can damage the magic, weaken it. You don’t have to worry about the public, they’ll try and befriend you, hoping that it would benefit them in some way, but you have your own mind, you can make your own decisions.”

“Is there anything I can read?”

“I believe that there are journals, each Blue Mage keeps a journal throughout their lifetime, it is supposed to be passed onto the next Blue Mage, but since the previous Blue Mage was born in a different continent, we’ll have to track it down for you. It won’t be easy, people would kill to know the secrets of the Blue Mage, but it is your birthright and so it will be found. I’ll put the entirety of The Black resources to use to have it found and brought to you.”

“So there’s no point in keeping it a secret?”

“At least not from the Order,” he confirmed. “There’s a meeting tonight...”

“Send me a message and I’ll prove it,” she said quietly. “If you don’t mind, I think I need to lie down for a little while.”

“Of course, Kitten.”

She shakily stood and moved over to Sirius. He stood and hugged her tightly.

“No one is going to hurt you, not only will I not allow it, it would be unforgivable.” She nodded and kissed his cheek. She hugged Remus and kissed his cheek before walking out of the room in a daze.

Sirius started pacing once she left.

“It’s bad,” Remus said sighing.

“Told you,” Sirius muttered. He walked over to the bar and poured himself a tumbler of fire whiskey, he downed it and winced. “Her life is never going to be the same.”

“It could be something else,” Remus offered hopefully. Sirius shot him a glare. “Or not,” he sighed. “Dumbledore will want to do the test.”

“I know, it’s not going to be pleasant for her.”

“Why not?” he frowned.

“It’ll be draining, it’ll be painful and it’s a long process.”

~000~000~000~

Hermione was lying on her bed staring at the ceiling trying to digest everything, when she heard a knock and a mutter. She waved her wand letting Fred and George into her room.

“Did you talk to Sirius?” Fred said sitting beside her, George sat on her other side.

She nodded.

“Did he find the book you mentioned him having?” George asked.

She nodded.

“And?” they both asked.

“I’m a Blue Mage.”

“Fucking hell!” they both exclaimed.

She jumped in shock and she looked at them both. She had never seen the twins so shocked before. Their eyes wide, on the verge of bulging out of their heads and their jaws practically hitting the floor.

“You know what they are?” she asked quietly, they nodded. “How?”

Fred was the first to clear his throat, but he looked like he wanted to faint.

“The legend of the Blue Mage is told to every Pureblood child throughout their childhood, specifically the males, they are bedtime stories. They’re powerful Muggleborn witches with the ability to control the elements. She’s a fierce warrior, but she traditionally stays neutral in times of war. She rights the wrongs of others, makes sure that neither side of war has too great an advantage, she keeps things fair and balanced,” he said, staring at her in awe.

“Her legend is told to us in case we ever find ourselves being in the presence of one, she must always be treated with the utmost respect and she must be protected. We’re also told her story should we be chosen as her mate. Those chosen to be her mates will be her equal, she will value them before all else and she will bring respect to the family of her chosen ones,” George finished for his twin and he couldn’t tear his eyes away from Hermione.

“What else do you know?” she asked, sitting up to look at them.

“She can control the five elements, she will live to the age of five hundred at which the next Blue Mage will be born and her powers will be passed on,” Fred said. “That’s all we know.”

“Sirius told me that a Blue Mage stops ageing between the ages of thirty and sixty. We can be killed before our fifth hundredth birthday. If we are killed or injured by someone, it is said to have disastrous consequences, except no one’s dared to hurt a Blue Mage before and therefore the ramifications are unknown.”

“That makes sense, a Blue Mage must be respected at all times,” George nodded.

“Each Blue Mage can control all five elements, however, since the element of Quintessence is said to be more than one ability, each Blue Mage’s is different. Mine is the ability to control lightning, the previous Blue Mage had the ability of telekinesis and the one before that was able to astral project.”

“Yours is much cooler,” Fred said and a smile tugged at her lips.

“Each Blue Mage keeps a journal of her life and it’s supposed to be passed down onto the next one, Sirius is going to track it down for me. My powers are growing stronger, but since they are natural abilities, it shouldn’t take me long to master control over them. A few weeks at most. My emotions are tied into my powers and that’s going to be the most difficult part of controlling my elemental magic. When I’m sad it rains, when I’m angry or frightened it’s thunder and lightning storms. I’m going to have to start to try and control my emotions. Sirius wants me to attend The Order meeting tonight and he wants to tell the Ministry ourselves.”

“So you can control the reaction, makes sense,” George nodded.

“He’s adamant we can’t keep it a secret.”

“He’s right, people will start noticing, especially the Pureblood wizards. I can’t wait to see the look on Malfoy’s face,” Fred spoke gleefully and she chuckled.

“He’s been disrespecting you since you stepped foot on the train your first year, he’s got a lot of making up to do, his father will be livid if he loses the chance of being the mate of a Blue Mage.”

She frowned. “Sirius said I have centuries to choose my mates, and Malfoy would sure as hell never be one of them.”

“Don’t worry, we’ll keep him away from you,” George grinned mischievously and she felt herself smile, knowing exactly what his intentioned were.

“It must be a lot to take in,” Fred commented softly.

“It is, I don’t know how to deal with all the information floating around in my head.”

“Do you want us to leave you alone for a little while?” George asked her.

“No, you can stay.”

She laid back down and stared at the ceiling. Fred and George smiled at each other and then laid down beside her, looking up at the ceiling that she’d charmed to show the constellations and stars.

~000~000~000~

“Before we call this meeting to a close, Sirius, you wanted to speak of something of great importance?” Dumbledore said.

Tonks, Remus, Kingsley, Moody, Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, Professors Snape and McGonagall and Charlie and Bill –who had arrived New Years- were all present. They turned to look at Sirius expectantly.

“Yes, just give me a minute,” he spoke and then he touched his ring.

 _‘It’s time, Kitten,’_ he thought.

 _‘Okay,’_ she replied.

They were all surprised when the kitchen door open and Hermione stepped in.

“You’re supposed to be in bed, young lady,” Mrs. Weasley scolded.

“She’s of age: you can’t tell my daughter what to do,” Sirius rolled his eyes.

“Daughter?” several people questioned in confusion.

“Daughter,” he clarified. “I adopted her last week.”

“I’m Hermione Black now,” she said sheepishly. They gawked.

“Sirius, I presume Miss. Black is here for a reason,” Dumbledore spoke.

“Yes, we’ve recently become aware of something affecting her.” He waved his wand and they watched intrigued as a glass of water, a lit candle, a plant pot filled with soil and a book appeared in the middle of the table.

“Miss, Black,” Dumbledore nodded, gesturing to the table with his hand and giving her the go-ahead.

Hermione looked at Sirius and he smiled at her encouragingly. Hermione took a deep breath and walked over to him, his presence helping to calm her.

“What’s this all about?” Moody’s gruff voice spoke.

“Just give her a chance, Moody, you’ll want to see this,” Sirius glared. “She needs to concentrate, so be quiet.”

Hermione looked at the plant pot first. She gripped her necklace.

 _‘I’ve never done anything with Earth since my first magical act,’_ she thought.

 _‘Just try, Kitten, it should work the same way as your other abilities,’_ he replied.

She sighed and let go of the necklace. She reached over and held her hand out close to the plant pot, which she knew had a seed in.

She focused her attention on the plant pot, imagining a beautiful flower being in its place. She wished it, willed it to happen. She could feel something pulling on her magic and narrowed her eyes further. She felt a smile tug at her lips when the plant pot began to shake. Excitement and joy were bubbling within her and suddenly a green stem sprouted out of the soil. A bud began to grow before petals appeared and unexpectedly burst open, revealing a lone lilac rose, fully grown. She dropped her hand and stood up straight, beaming at Sirius who was smiling at her proudly.

“What the hell was that?” Tonks whispered, everyone’s attention was on Hermione and she shifted under their stares.

“Earth,” Sirius spoke.

Hermione cleared her throat and then moved her attention to the glass of water. She focused her attention and narrowed her eyes. It took less time than it usually did for the water to erupt and float in the air, quickly changing into a Phoenix under her will. She used her wand to freeze it and when it dropped she caught it and moved over to Dumbledore. She held it out for him and he took it from her slowly, staring at it in wonder.

“Water,” Sirius said.

Hermione turned her attention to the book on the table. She narrowed her eyes at it and a tiny tornado appeared, made its way over to the book and then it slipped under the book. The book was levitated from the table and into the air, everyone’s head lifted up, following the movement. The book then moved over to Charlie and dropped and he caught it and he gawked at it.

“Air,” Sirius said.

Hermione turned her attention to the lit candle; the tornado appeared once more and moved the candle over to her. She put her hand near the flame, touching it and then she moved it away. The lone flame seemed to grow in size, before it followed her hand, reaching out to touch her fingertips. She lifted her hand up high over the candle and the flame followed, she moved her hand around the flame and the flame moved in a circular motion, following her.

She put her hand over the flame and with her thumb and forefinger, she pinched the flame and when she moved her hand away, all that was left was a small puff of smoke.

“Fire,” Sirius said and Hermione moved back over to him.

He put his wand to his temple and pulled out a small white wisp of smoke and flicked his wand. The memory played on a large screen. The day Hermione had been found, Sirius was hugging her tightly and a thunder and lightning storm was raging in her bedroom before it suddenly stopped, then the memory faded.

“Quintessence,” Sirius spoke.

Everyone was staring at Hermione.

“Impossible,” McGonagall muttered, staring at her cub in wonder.

“Incredible,” Dumbledore said with his eyes twinkling.

“I’m a Blue Mage,” Hermione said quietly.

Chaos ensured.


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Page Count: 11

**12 Grimmauld Place – Saturday 6th January 1996**

Hermione stared in surprise as everyone yelled over each other, trying to be heard and to get their points across.

She looked between each member of The Order and she could feel herself getting a headache. She sat down in one of the empty chairs that had been vacated by the members of The Order that were now standing and yelling in each other’s faces. She sighed and rubbed at her temples in hopes it would ease the pain. It didn’t.

Sirius who had been sat back in his chair with his arms crossed didn’t miss Hermione’s actions and he felt a protective instinct fill him. He wasted no time in raising his own voice to quiet the squabbling wizarding folk, and they all turned to face him.

“Stop acting like children, you’re giving my daughter a headache,” he said angrily. Some of them had the grace to look sheepish and retook their seats, Snape looked bored and Moody eyed her suspiciously.

“Why did you bring this information to us?” Dumbledore asked, whilst he was looking at Hermione with a twinkle in his eyes.

“She’s been identified as The Blue Mage, people will soon begin to notice what she is and it can’t be kept a secret. We thought it best that we warn you first, before The Ministry becomes aware of the situation. Also, good old You-Know-Who will learn of this development...”

“And he’ll want to recruit her,” Mrs. Weasley whispered, looking at Hermione fearful for her future and safety.

“It is fortunate that Miss. Black will be working for The Order,” Dumbledore spoke.

“No, I’m not sure that I will,” Hermione spoke quietly, but everyone heard perfectly and they all looked at her in shock.

“WHAT?” Moody roared.

“Blue Mages are wrong righters, do-gooders, warriors. But we’re supposed to stay neutral, we’re supposed to watch over battles and make sure that neither side has too great an advantage. We keep things balanced, but we don’t choose sides, ever. Who knows what could happen if I choose sides? It’s never happened before and it could have disastrous consequences. For the time being, I need to stay neutral, at least, until something happens that forces my hand and I have to choose sides, but for now, I can’t.”

“It’s okay, Kitten,” Sirius said softly.

“I think you’re making a mistake,” Dumbledore said.

“Then it’s a good thing it’s not your decision to make,” Sirius snapped. “You’re not the one that will be alive for the next five hundred years. You’re not the one that has to keep a war balanced, but still allow for nature to take its course. You’re not the one that has to control amazing abilities in case you accidentally get too emotional and lose control of your magic. You’re not the one that will be a target!” Everyone stared at him in surprise for his outburst. “You will not make my daughter feel guilty for something she cannot control.”

Hermione had tears of guilt rolling down her face. Sirius turned his attention to her.

“Kitten, why don’t you go to bed, it’s late and you’re catching the train in the morning?” He spoke softly.

“We need to do the test,” Dumbledore injected.

“The test can wait, she’s exhausted and she needs time to digest everything. She only learned of this morning, besides, what more proof do you need? You’ve seen the evidence, there is no other possible explanation for what she can do,” Sirius glared at Dumbledore. “Kitten,” he said softly, “Go to bed and rest.”

She wiped away her tears and nodded.

“The twins are waiting for me anyway,” she nodded in agreement.

“The twins?” Bill and Charlie questioned in surprise.

She nodded and then stood and kissed Sirius’ cheek as she walked past him, heading out of the kitchen.

“Are the twins her mates?” Charlie asked Sirius slightly awed.

“No, not that I know of, at least not yet, her magic will choose for her, but she has decades before she has to decide.” Charlie nodded, slightly disappointed.

Sirius then turned to Dumbledore. “I do not appreciate the way you’ve treated Hermione. You come into my home, albeit a shitty one, but a home nonetheless and the one I offered up to you without thought, and you make my daughter feel guilty? That’s out of line. I’ve always respected you, as has my daughter, but what you’ve just done has made me question my opinion of you. How dare you do that to my daughter and in her own home?” Sirius stood and stormed out of the kitchen, leaving behind silence.

~000~000~000~

Hermione entered her room to see the twins both waiting for her. She closed the door and walked over to her bed, laying down in-between the twins, but not touching.

“How did it go?” George asked her.

She groaned.

“That good, huh?” Fred chuckled.

She sighed. “They were surprised, to say the least, Dumbledore immediately assumed that I would work for The Order. He made me feel guilty for staying neutral,” she said quietly.

“Don’t listen to him, Hermione. You have to stay neutral, Blue Mages have never chosen a side; they just watch and repair the damage. It’s not your fault,” George said softly.

“I supposedly have all this power and I can’t even use it.”

“You can though. You can use it to do good; you can use it to help keep people safe without actively fighting in the war,” Fred said and she smiled slightly.

“How do you do that?” she asked in awe.

“Do what?” they both asked confused.

“Make me feel better, you don’t even try.”

They grinned at her. “It’s easy, not everyone is Ronniekins,” George chuckled.

“Though Georgie over here is known to put his foot in his mouth from time to time,” Fred said.

“I’ve noticed,” Hermione said dryly and George scowled as Fred laughed, but it dropped when he heard Hermione giggle.

“Well, you’re just jealous I’m the handsome twin,” George replied smugly.

“We’re identical, you prat,” Fred snorted.

“Yes, but I’m handsomer.”

“There’s only one way to settle this,” Fred mock glared at his twin and they both nodded and turned to Hermione.

“Hermione, Love, I’m the more handsome twin, right?” George said, her stomach flopped at the term of endearment, but she felt a smirk pulling at her mouth.

“Actually, I think it’s Fred.”

Fred burst out laughing at the look of disbelief on George’s face.

“You seriously think he’s the more handsome brother?”

“No, I think Charlie is,” she deadpanned.

Fred immediately stopped laughing and he and his twin both stared at her with wide eyes and opened mouths. Hermione couldn’t keep a straight face and she burst out laughing. Her body shook as she gripped her sides and tears were on the verge of leaking down her face.

“Oh, so you’re just dating us to get close to our older brother?” George asked.

“Of course,” she said, as if it was obvious.

“It’s the muscles and tattoos, isn’t it?” Fred narrowed his eyes.

“Don’t forget the dragons,” she sighed dreamily.

They all burst out laughing.

“Seriously though,” Hermione said when they calmed down, “Charlie’s handsome, but I prefer mischievous pranksters to burly dragon tamers.”

“Well then, I guess it’s a good job we’re mischievous pranksters,” Fred grinned.

“Even better for you, there’s two of us, lucky witch,” George teased and she snorted at them, shaking her head.

“Are you ready to return to school?” Fred asked her, changing the subject.

“Yes and no. I’m ready to get back into a routine and I’m ready to get back to learning, I need to know everything I can so that I can teach it to Harry and Ron, and then that can be passed onto the D.A from Harry,” she sighed. “What I’m not ready for is Umbridge, people finding out about my being a Blue Mage and I’m not looking forward to dealing with Malfoy and the other Purebloods. I’m not looking forward to the rumours that will spread once my name is officially changed in a week’s time and I’m not looking forward to Ron’s and Ginny’s behaviour either.”

“What about us?” George asked quietly. “What about when people find out?”

“Then they found out, our family knows and they’re the only people that matter to me. They seem to have accepted it, well, almost everyone.” They snorted at her. “The others can stick a sock in it,”

“Eloquently put,” Fred nodded and she chuckled. “You seriously don’t care that you’ll be the subject of gossip?”

“I’m always the subject of gossip for some reason or other, it makes no difference to me what people think about our relationship. I am, however, worried out the backlash of your little fan club.”

“They hurt you and they’ll be finding Hair Loss and Fungi Face Potions in their food for weeks,” George said seriously, with no sign of amusement or playfulness. All traces of humour were gone, leaving only a glare on his face.

“Plus, when it comes to light just who you are, not only a Black but a Blue Mage, too, you’ll be the most feared and awed witch in Hogwarts, Europe even. They’ll be begging for your forgiveness,” Fred added.

“Lovely,” Hermione said sarcastically whilst rolling her eyes and they chuckled at her.

~000~000~000~

**Hogwarts Express - Sunday 7th January 1996**

“Okay, Kitten, you got everything?” Sirius asked her as they stood on the platform.

She nodded and sighed, and he looked at her sadly; he didn’t want her to leave either.

“Yes, I’ve got everything; I’m not looking forward to the reactions.”

“I’m sending the letter informing The Ministry of your status off next week; they’ll likely come to you afterwards to do the test, I’ve bought you as much time as possible.”

“And then everyone will know,” she said quietly. “That’ll be fun,” she grouched.

“It’s better this way.”

“I know,” she sighed, they’d already discussed it. 

“I have some good news though.” She looked up at him. “The papers came back early, they arrived this morning. You’re officially Hermione Black. It’ll take a week for all records to be updated but you’re now Hermione Black.” She couldn’t stop the smile that spread across her face. She jumped into his arms and he chuckled and hugged her tightly.

“I love you,” she whispered. She’d never said those words before and she felt tears spring into her eyes at the fact she could now say them and mean them.

Sirius stiffened before he hugged her tighter. He’d never heard those words before and he felt his chest tighten.

“I love you, too, Kitten,” he whispered.

They pulled away from each other to see everyone staring at them with small smiles; Remus was beaming, obviously hearing them with his sensitive hearing.

Sirius handed a letter to her.

“It’s a copy of the confirmation letter, you show that to our delightful cousin Malfoy, and he’ll back off, at least he’ll stop insulting your blood and family ties.”

Hermione and the others finished their goodbyes and Mrs. Weasley looked at her sadly when Hermione didn’t hug her, only Remus.

She turned to the twins who were waiting patiently for her off to the side. They held their hands out to her and she took a deep breath and walked over to them, taking their hands in hers and together they stepped onto the train.

They walked down the aisle looking for an empty compartment and walking past the gawking students and furious members of the twins’ fan club. They ignored them and found a compartment.

They’d been on the train for an hour when the compartment door opened.

“Hey, there you are, there’s rumours flying around the train that you and Granger were...” Lee trailed off when he saw Hermione sat in-between the twins, holding their hands with their fingers interlaced and she didn’t take any notice of his arrival as she had a book sat open in her lap. Fred and George looked away from their conversation and to Lee, stood in the doorway.

“That Granger and us were?” George prompted.

“Seen together without arguing and holding hands,” he said, looking at their joined hands with wide eyes.

“Well, she is our girlfriend,” Fred shrugged.

“What?” Lee spluttered, clearly surprised by the confession.

“She’s our girlfriend,” George repeated.

“Since when?”

“December,” they both shrugged.

“You’ve been dating Granger for over a month and didn’t tell me?” he said sceptically.

“I guess it slipped our minds, anyway, it’s not like we hid it from you,” George said. “You asked us where we were going and we told you we had dates.”

“Yeah, but I never thought it was with Granger.” Lee watched her carefully; she was too busy reading her book that she paid no mind to anything that was happening around her.

“Why not?” George said defensively. “What’s wrong with her?”

“Nothing, it’s just she’s Granger. She’s...”

Fred could see where he was going with this and quickly intervened. “Beautiful, intelligent, kind, understanding, scary as hell?”

“I agree,” George nodded at his twin’s words.

Lee blinked. “What’s brought this on all of a sudden? You usually do nothing but complain about her.”

“We saw her in a different light, between fifth and sixth year we noticed her, but Ron had all but claimed her. We spent more time with her over the previous summer and she informed us of her non-existing relationship with our dim-witted brother and so we went for it,” Fred shrugged.

“You’ve liked her since sixth year?” he questioned in surprise. He was getting a headache.

“Yep, even more so since the beginning of summer,” Fred confirmed.

“But you were always complaining about her,” he replied confused.

“Well, we had to talk about her somehow without being found out,” George rolled his eyes.

“So you two really are dating her? It’s not a prank? It’s not payback? You really do like her? The both of you?”

“We would never do anything to hurt Hermione,” George said, outraged by the accusation. “She’s special, and yes, we both like her for more reasons than we can ever explain. Do you have a problem with our relationship?” The twins both had narrowed eyes.

“No,” Lee said quickly. “it’s just going to take some getting used to that’s all, it’s strange,” he cautiously took a seat opposite them and watched as the twins went back to their conversation, never once removing their entwined hands from Hermione’s. She was oblivious to his presence and to the conversation that had just taken place.

It was half an hour later when Hermione looked up, appearing to be surprised when noticing that Lee was there. She looked sheepish and she removed her hand from George’s and waved her wand, stowing it back in her pocket and taking a hold of George’s hand once more.

“Sorry, I didn’t hear you come in,” she said guiltily. “Silencing Charm,” she explained and he nodded. Well, that explained why she hadn’t heard his conversation with the twins and to be honest, he was glad she hadn’t.

“I can’t believe you’re the mystery girl,” he said, eyeing her carefully.

“Mystery girl?” she questioned with a frown.

“The one the twins have been ditching me for,” he clarified.

“They did what!” she exclaimed and the twins winced when she glared at them each in turn. “You ditched your friend to spend time with me?”

“Of course not,” Fred said, at the same as George said, “We’d do it again.”

“Honestly,” Hermione huffed and the twins smiled at the small pout on her lips. “You shouldn’t do that, if you have plans with your friends you should stick to them, don’t even think about changing them so you can spend time with me,” she told them and they nodded, but everyone in the compartment knew they wouldn’t listen to her.

“I can’t believe you’re dating,” Lee muttered. “It’s weird,” he scrunched up his nose.

“How so?” she asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Well...you’re just so..different.”

“Are we?”

“Yes,” he nodded.

“You think so?”

“Yes,” he replied without thought.

“Hmm...We’re all intelligent, we all care about the same people, we’ve all pretty much grew up together, we see each other every summer, Easter and Christmas, in addition to every day when we’re at Hogwarts. We’re both rule-breakers, except I don’t get caught, which means that I have to be mischievous. I smuggled a dragon out of the castle, I fought a werewolf and played a life-sized game of chess, I killed murderous plants and solved a potions riddle. I survived being attacked by a basilisk and I got Harry through the Triwizard Tournament _and_ I got a convicted killer’s wrongful ruling overturned.”

He stared at her, his mouth open and eyes wide.

“She’s perfect for you,” Lee said, looking at the twins and they grinned in response.

“We know,” Fred said.

“And we don’t plan on letting her go any time soon,” George said.

“That fan club of yours won’t be happy,” Lee commented.

“Does everyone but us know about this fan club?” Fred asked exasperated.

“Yes,” Hermione and Lee replied without hesitation.

“Back to the point,” spoke George. “This so-called fan club won’t hurt her, not after the news that will be hitting the headlines next week.”

“What news?” Lee asked intrigued.

“You’ll find out soon enough,” Hermione replied. “Right, you’ve had Christmas with me; I’ll go and find Harry so you boys can have some bromance time.”

“Bromance time? What’s that?” Lee scrunched up his face.

“Never mind,” she said.

She gave the twins’ hands a squeeze before letting go and standing up, walking out of the compartment.

~000~000~000~

**Hogwarts**

“So, Hermione” Hermione groaned when she heard Lavender’s voice pipe up at the table, she looked at the blonde, sitting a few seats down and across from her.

“Yes?” she answered tiredly.

“Is it true that you’re dating The Weasley Twins?”

“You’re the Queen of the gossip mill, you tell me.”

“Well, rumour has it...”

“Yes, we’re dating,” Hermione interrupted the long-winded speech that was heading her way.

“Since when? Why keep it a secret?”

“Since December and we haven’t kept it a secret, we just haven’t paraded our relationship around the school, like others would and do.”

“Why are you dating both of them?” she huffed.

“It’s not illegal, you should know growing up in the Wizarding World,” she shrugged. “And who would you choose? Fred or George?” Lavender opened her mouth, but no sound came out. “Exactly, Fred and George are two separate people, but a single unit. They’re a package deal and they both have flaws and qualities that separate them. But I could never do that to them. I could never pick one over the other, it wouldn’t be right and mostly, I don’t just want one of them; I want them both.” She turned back to her food, signalling the end of the conversation.

~000~000~000~

Hermione was the only one left in the common room, everyone else had retired for the night and gone to bed. She sat on the couch next to the fireplace, her head resting against the back of the couch and the flames lighting up her figure, making her glow, and that’s the way Fred and George found her.

They stopped and watched her. She looked beautiful.

“Are you going to stand there and stare all night?” Hermione asked amused, her eyes still closed.

“How did you know we were here?” George asked her.

She shrugged. “I just did.” They both walked over to her and sat on either side of her on the red and warn couch.

“How are you doing?” Fred asked her.

“Considering hexing Pavarti and Lavender for being nosy sods.” They chuckled at her.

“As much as we would love to see that, we don’t want to see you in detention with the toad,” Fred spoke.

“There’s always the D.A.” They snorted at her.

“Now that I would gladly sit back and watch,” George grinned.

“Of course no one would know it was me.”

“That’s our girl,” Fred said proudly and she smiled.

She opened her eyes and looked at the twins. “Do you want to see something?”

“Is it awesome?” George asked smirking.

“Hmm,” she hummed.

“Then yes, show us something,” Fred nodded.

She chuckled and stood up. She turned to face them and then she conjured a glass and filled it with water.

She held the glass up to her face and narrowed her eyes on it. It was getting much easier to control her elemental powers. She hardly had to try anymore, with smaller feats of magic that is. Those that were bigger were still difficult.

“What are you doi...” Fred trailed off when the glass started shaking in her hand and the water erupted from the glass, it suddenly collected into a blob and floated in the air.

Hermione put the glass on the floor and then turned her attention back to the water. She squinted her eyes and the water formed into a lion and they watched in awe.

She cocked her head to the side slightly and the lion suddenly burst into tiny molecules of water droplets and they floated in front of the twins, as if it had been raining and someone had pressed the pause button, you could see every molecule floating.

George reached out and touched a droplet with his finger.

“That’s amazing,” he whispered and she smiled widely. She looked at the glass and the water followed her line of sight, moving over to the glass and it dropped, leaving a regular glass of water behind.

“How long have you been able to do that?” Fred asked her awed.

“Not long, a couple of weeks. It’s getting easier every time I do it.”

“What else can you do?” he asked her.

“You’ve seen what I can do with lightning,” she mused.

“And air, we were in the great hall when the pancakes moved to you.”

She frowned at George. “I’ve only had two experiences with earth, one being my first act of magic, the other being yesterday when I was showing The Order my abilities. But fire...” she walked over to the fireplace and knelt down in front of it.

They went to yell out when she stuck her hand in the flames, but she didn’t scream or cry. She pulled her hand out and stood and stepped away from the fire, the flames grew and moved out of the fireplace to touch her, licking at her fingertips.

“It doesn’t hurt, it follows me,” she whispered.

She then turned to face them and the flames retreated into the fireplace.

They were staring at her amazed.

“Wow!”

She laughed at their response; it was the only word that came to mind.

~000~000~000~

**Wednesday 10th January 1996**

Three days later and the entire castle knew about Hermione and the twins dating, most were surprised and gossiped and watched them interact, others glared and sneered but never approached her, and Hermione honestly didn’t care, despite how much the twins had been glaring at anyone that dared to look her way with anything but a smile.

She’d just left the great hall, finishing her dinner and wanting to head to the library to finish her potions essay.

“Granger!”

She sighed, could she not get some peace and quiet?

“Yes, my delightful cousin,” she turned around to face Malfoy, he had stopped in front of her, towering over her and a disgusted and angered look appeared on his face.

“What? Like I would ever be related to you and your filthy blood,” he spat.

“But you are, I am Hermione Black, the daughter of Sirius Black, a Pureblood.”

He looked at her speechless and she took pleasure in the silence. She turned and walked away giggling to herself.

She felt herself being shoved and then a hand grabbed her arm, spinning her around. She faced a furious Draco Malfoy; his hands gripped her upper arms tightly, definitely leaving bruises.

Something in Hermione snapped.

His height.

His fury.

His unrelenting grip on her.

His sneer.

His proximity. 

It was her father.


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Page Count: 11

**Hogwarts – Wednesday 10th January 1996**

She was paralysed, a four-year-old hiding under her bed again.

When he saw her terrified expression, he almost faltered and let go, but he got his bearings and gripped her tighter.

“You have a smart mouth, Granger, I’m glad to know that you know how to shut it. But I can think of a few things it can be used for,” he leered at her, taking great pleasure in her apparent fright.

Tears started leaking out of Hermione’s eyes.

“Please don’t hurt me,” she whispered. “I’ve been good, I swear.” He looked at her confused and his hold on her slackened.

She took advantage and struggled out of his hold. She stumbled backwards and he followed her, stepping forward.

He’d never seen her so frightened, hell, he’d never seen anyone look the way she did. Her skin was pale white, her large eyes filled with undiluted fear and tears poured out of them. She gave a whole new meaning to the term shaking like a leaf.

“I swear, I’ve been good, I haven’t broken any rules,” she cried.

Her back hit against the wall and she slid down it, landing on the floor. She brought her knees up to her chest and wrapped her hands around her legs and she started rocking.

“I promise I’ve been good. Please don’t hurt me, Daddy,” she wailed. Malfoy was stood, rooted in place in shock.

Her whispered words brought him out of his shock and he narrowed his eyes and stepped forward. His hand touched her shoulder and it was a big mistake.

Hermione screamed. A great force of wind slammed into Malfoy, sending him flying backwards and into the wall opposite them. He bounced off it and landed on the floor.

He groaned and looked up when he heard a loud crash, rain started pouring from the ceiling, immediately soaking him and lightning flashed overhead. He looked at Hermione fearfully.

“HERMIONE!” his head snapped up, Fred and George were running down the corridor, also being soaked.

They kneeled down in front of her but didn’t touch her. They tried to get her attention, but she was clinging to her knees, sobbing, not hearing a single word being spoken.

“What did you do?” George asked Malfoy with a fatal glare and an ice-cold tone.

Malfoy opened his mouth to respond, but no sound came out.

Fred carefully manoeuvred his hand under Hermione and touched her necklace.

_‘Sirius?’_

_‘Who is this?’_ His voice entered Fred’s mind, and it was a strange feeling to be hearing voices in his mind that weren’t his own internal musings. He wondered how Hermione and Sirius did it so frequently without going insane.

_‘Fred, something’s happened to Hermione, you need to get here now.’_

_‘I’m on my way, what happened?’_

_‘I don’t know, we left after dinner to follow Hermione to the library, we found her. Malfoy’s on the floor, looks to have been thrown against the wall. She’s caved in on herself, crying and whispering. We can’t break her out of it. It’s like she’s having flashbacks, like she’s frozen in a memory. It’s thundering and lightning here, too.’_

_‘I’m stepping into the floo now,’_ Fred didn’t have to wait long. _‘I’m in Dumbledore’s office, where are you?’_

_‘First corridor to the right of the great hall.’_

_‘I’ll be there in a few minutes.’_

“Sirius is coming, Hermione,” Fred whispered.

“I asked you a question!” George snarled and he stood up and made his way over to Malfoy. He made an imposing figure with his hands clenched by his sides and anger twisting his usual joyous features.

“GEORGE!” Fred yelled, getting his attention. “He’s not worth it, Hermione needs us. Sirius is on his way.”

George glared at Malfoy but walked away from him, and he knelt back down in front of Hermione, his anger dissipating in worry and the need to comfort her.

They whispered to her as she continued her mumblings and crying. They heard footsteps in-between the sounds of the thunder and rain hitting the stone floor and they looked up to see Dumbledore, McGonagall, Snape and Sirius rushing towards them.

“Kitten!” Sirius called in worry.

Hermione’s head snapped up and recognition lit her face, she wasted no time in unfolding her arms from around her legs and standing up, jumping into his arms when he was close enough.

“Please, don’t let him hurt me, Daddy,” she cried into his chest, but everyone heard clearly despite her words being muffled. Malfoy was stunned at her words and he sat up, propping himself up against the wall for support.

Sirius almost stopped breathing.

“I won’t, Kitten. I promise he won’t ever hurt you again,” he replied softly. The rain, thunder and lightning stopped immediately after his words, and everyone sighed in relief.

“What happened?” he asked her quietly.

“Malfoy, he grabbed me and wouldn’t let go. He looked so much like him. I panicked.” Sirius gently tugged Hermione off him and he looked at the twins, Hermione followed his line of sight.

Their hearts broke at her puffy, red face, tears still leaking and fear still sitting in her eyes. They held their arms open for her and without thought, she jumped into them, and they hugged her to them tightly.

Sirius smiled slightly at the scene and then he remembered the blonde on the floor and turned to him, anger immediately taking over.

“You dare hurt my daughter?” Sirius’ canine side made an appearance with a growl. Malfoy gawked, unable to formulate a response. “You dare harm a Black, boy?” Malfoy stuttered. “Well?”

“I didn’t know,” he gulped.

“You didn’t know? So it would’ve been perfectly acceptable for you to hurt a woman if she wasn’t a Pureblood?”

He didn’t speak.

“Your mother will be hearing of this, she may not like me, but when she discovers that you willingly harmed a woman, a Black, a cousin, she will be furious, even more so when news comes to light tomorrow.”

“What news?” Fred asked.

“The Ministry received the letter; they’re coming here tomorrow, sometime between breakfast and lunch to do the testing.”

“What test?” Malfoy whispered fearfully; if it involved the Ministry it wouldn’t bode well for him.

“You’ll see the headlines on Friday,” Sirius glared at him.

“She threw me against the wall,” he said, looking at Hermione fearfully.

“You’re lucky that’s all she did, the consequences may yet be worse for you.” He turned to Dumbledore. “I’m not leaving her in this state; it’ll take at least a couple of weeks for her to feel comfortable without me being in her presence. The flashbacks she was forced to endure has just undone months of progress.”

Dumbledore nodded. “I understand, arrangements will be made.”

“No need, I’ll stay as Padfoot.” He turned to Malfoy. “You speak of anything you heard or saw and you’ll live to regret it,” he warned, before turning into Padfoot and Malfoy stared in surprise.

He moved over to Hermione and nudged her leg with his nose. She pulled away from the twins and followed after the dog with Fred and George behind her.

“Miss. Black, I am sorry for my assumptions,” he said.

Hermione looked at him. “It’s alright, Professor, I forgave you the moment you said it,” she said quietly and then she continued walking, disappearing down the hall.

Dumbledore’s eyes twinkled and then he turned to the two professors.

“Lord Black will want punishment,” Dumbledore spoke knowingly.

“As do I,” McGonagall spoke, looking livid at the thought of someone hurting her lion cub, particularly another student hurting her in the place where she was supposed to be safe.

“It will be taken care of,” Snape assured him, a cruel smirk tugging at his mouth.

~000~000~000~

**Thursday 11th January 1996**

It wasn’t until Hermione’s first lesson, DADA, that everyone noticed the large black dog, looking terrifyingly similar to a grim, following Hermione. She had skipped breakfast and taken it in her room with Sirius. She hadn’t been in a very talkative mood, so he told her stories from his time at Hogwarts, pulling a laugh out of her every so often.

They’d left the common room late, waiting until they were sure everyone else would be at breakfast and they headed straight down to her class, taking a seat on the floor in the corridor.

Surprisingly, Harry was the first to arrive and he sat on the ground next to her. He was shocked to see Padfoot and Hermione tiredly explained everything that had happened the night before, having been avoiding everyone since then.

He was furious but a bark from Padfoot had him in his place. She explained that Padfoot was staying for a little while, he didn’t question her. He could see how much the previous day had affected her. Her eyes weren’t as bright, her skin looked pale, she had bags under her eyes and her usual wild hair looked limp and lifeless.

It was clear that everything the twins, Sirius and Remus had done for her was no longer there. It had been wiped away by the flashbacks she’d had, it was like the week before the trial all over again and it broke Sirius’ heart to see his daughter in such pain.

Students started arriving and they looked at the dog confused, whispering between them and staring. Hermione ignored them and scratched the head of the dog that was resting against her thigh.

When Umbridge arrived Hermione stood and walked into the room, taking her regular seat and Padfoot laid down on the floor next to her, by her chair.

Umbridge cleared her throat and turned around, the sickly sweet smile plastered on her face. Before she could begin the lecture, Pansy Parkinson raised her hand.

“Yes, Miss. Parkinson?”

“Forgive me for interrupting, Professor,” she turned to Hermione and smirked, but Hermione wasn’t looking, for the first time in her life, she wasn’t paying attention. She was resting her head against her hand and doodling on her parchment. “But I was just wondering if you were aware of the animal beside, Granger.”

Umbridge’s attention snapped to her, her eyes widened and then narrowed before a scarily sweet smile appeared on her face. She walked over to Hermione, stopping in front of her desk with her hands clasped in front of her.

She cleared her throat. Hermione ignored it. She cleared her throat. Hermione ignored it. She could hear the wheezes of Padfoot from beside her, indicating that he was laughing and that he found Hermione’s ignorance amusing, especially since it seemed to ruffle the professor’s feathers so much.

“Miss. Granger?” her snooty voice called. Hermione ignored it.

A book slammed down on her desk, making everyone but her jump in surprise. She slowly looked up from her parchment to a furious Umbridge standing before her.

“Yes?” she asked bored.

“It is against school rules for animals to be on the premises,” she said primly.

“Actually, I think you’ll find it’s not since familiars such as cats, rats, toads and owls all reside on school grounds. I’ll give you that they’re not supposed to be in classrooms to save you face.” She heard gasps and sniggers at her words, clearly, her peers hadn’t expected to respond in such a way.

Umbridge blinked furiously.

“Then you have knowingly brought a stray and a non-familial animal onto school grounds and into a classroom, you will have to be punished.”

Padfoot immediately stood up and took a defensive stance next to Hermione, growling viciously. The room watched in silence and Umbridge took a step back at the bared teeth of the Grimm-like animal.

Hermione ran her hand through Padfoot’s fur and whispered in his ear to calm him. He stopped growling, but he didn’t move away from Hermione and he didn’t settle down on the floor either, keeping his defensive stance.

“I honestly don’t care, do what you have to, I can’t be arsed dealing with you and that hideous suit today.” The room was deadly quiet as Hermione looked back down at her parchment and ignored Umbridge’s presence.

Umbridge’s face turned red and before she could screech in outrage, there was a knock at the door and it opened revealing Professor McGonagall.

“Forgive me for intruding, Professor, I require Miss. Black.” There were murmurs at the name, everyone looking around to see if there was a new student no one had noticed.

“We don’t have a Miss. Black, and I was in the process of giving Miss. Granger disciplinary action.”

“Miss. Black?” McGonagall ignored Umbridge and she had to admit it felt good. “Please come with me.” Hermione immediately stood and grabbed her satchel, flinging it over her shoulder and Padfoot moved with her as the whispers in the room grew louder.

“You are mistaken at your age, Minerva,” Umbridge smiled sweetly.

The room went silent.

“I am afraid it is you that is mistaken, Hermione Black is the daughter of Sirius Black, as the Undersecretary I thought you would know that,” she frowned, but Hermione saw her eyes crinkle in amusement and there were gasps and sniggers.

“Your appointment is here, Miss. Black.”

Hermione nodded and walked over to McGonagall.

“Miss. Granger needs to be punished; she brought an unknown animal onto school grounds and into the classroom.”

“If you bothered to read the staff notice board you would see that Miss. Black has been granted permission by Professor Dumbledore to allow her to have this dog on the school grounds and in all classrooms for her protection. He will be accompanying her for her protection for the coming weeks, Miss. Black will not be given a punishment.”

She stepped out of the room and then turned around to face the gawking students and Professor.

“I suggest, Delores, that you address Miss. Black by her name, denying her the right of her title as Lady Black will not bode well for you. Lord Black will not be pleased that you have treated his daughter with disrespect, neither will Lady Malfoy. I would hate to be on the end of the retribution they would demand for such a slight against the House of Black, and their soon to be Matriarch.” McGonagall then closed the door behind her and Hermione gave a genuine laugh and Padfoot barked out a laugh too, McGonagall chuckled.

“That was brilliant, Professor,” Hermione spoke.

“I will not tolerate that witch one moment longer, incessant pain in the broomstick.” Hermione laughed again. “We best be going, there are several members of The Ministry waiting for you in the great hall.”

Hermione sighed and nodded.

Together they made their way to the great hall and they stepped inside.

It seemed there was quite a crowd, nine people -including herself and Sirius- if she counted correctly.

Padfoot immediately changed into Sirius, not bothering to hide the fact that he was an Animagus since Hermione had made him register when he’d had his name cleared. He put his arm around her shoulders and they walked over to the group convened in the centre of the hall.

“Ah, Lady Black, it is a pleasure to meet you, I am Cornelius Fudge.” He went for her hand but she flinched and he noticed and looked at her curiously, she gave a small smile. “Lord Black, thank you for your letter alerting us to your daughter’s development.” He shook Sirius’ hand but didn’t take his eyes off Hermione.

Hermione took the chance to look at the others. Professor Dumbledore was off to the side with McGonagall. There was a tall figure wearing dark robes and the hood drawn hiding the face, which intrigued her. There were two slightly smaller wizards wearing traditional Auror robes, and a short pudgy man wearing grey robes. Surprisingly there was a wizard holding a broomstick, staring at her leeringly and she moved closer to Sirius. She had to admit he was handsome with his dark hair and eyes and a tall, muscled frame, but he made her uncomfortable.

“Lady Black, please let me introduce to you the men that will be aiding in the testing today,” he said positively gleeful. The man wearing grey robes stepped forward first. “This is Reginald Kiln, he is the Head of the Department of Security.” He nodded at her. The two men wearing standard Auror robes stepped forward. “Next we have Leroy Litl and Jeremy Hunter, two of the best Aurors we have at the Ministry.” They winked at her and she scowled, causing Sirius to chuckle. “Next is Daniel Cameron.” The man with the broom stepped forward and leered at her, promptly picking up her hand and kissing the back of it.

Hermione stopped breathing, the man smirked misunderstanding her reaction for her falling under his charm, but that wasn’t the case. Sirius pulled Hermione into him and away from Cameron and she took deep breaths as her body shook.

“I would appreciate it if you didn’t touch my daughter, her biological parents were not nice people, if you catch my drift.” he glared at Cameron.

His eyes widened immediately and he nodded furiously. “I am sorry, Lady Black, for my rash actions,” he said sincerely.

Hermione took a deep breath and nodded, gaining control over her emotions.

“It’s perfectly alright, Mr. Cameron, you didn’t know,” she said quietly.

“Mr. Cameron retired from professional Quidditch last year and now head’s up the Magical Games and Sports Department,” Fudge bragged.

“Well, I’m sorry to say that I do not recognise you, Mr. Cameron.”

Sirius laughed at her and everyone looked at her as though she was stupid.

“Kitten, he played for the Montrose Magpies for six years,” he snorted in amusement. Hermione’s brow furrowed.

“They’re based in Ireland?”

“No, nice try though.”

“Scotland?”

“Got it,” he chuckled at her when she looked pleased with herself.

“Moving on,” Fudge cleared his throat. “Finally we have Agent Comet,” he gestured to the man in the black robes. “He’s an Unspeakable.”

Hermione nodded, it explained the whole wardrobe choice and secrecy thing.

He stepped forward and held his hand out for her patiently. Hermione eyed his pale hand and then gently put her hand in his. He bent down low over her hand, but he otherwise didn’t touch her. Hermione’s eyes widened.

“Err, Agent Comet, you don’t have to bow, honestly, it’s a little weird actually.” Sirius snorted at her and she heard McGonagall and Dumbledore chuckling.

“Each wizard will have a role in the testing,” Fudge explained as Comet gently released her hand and he stepped back into line.

“How so? What will the test require me to do?” she asked with a thoughtful frown.

“We need to test that you actually are who you claim to be.” He hadn’t mentioned the term yet, not wanting to bestow such a title on the witch until it was a clear result. “We will need to see your elemental powers, we will need to test your body’s reaction to being under threat and we need you to complete a number of tasks.”

“Let’s get this over with, I’ve been having a bad week, it’s only going to get worse when the article is released in The Daily Prophet,” she sighed.

“That’s assuming you are what you say you are,” Litl rose an eyebrow at her.

“We wouldn’t bring you here for a lie. You think I want the responsibility of having all this power in me? Of having to learn to control myself, my reactions, my emotions, my mind, my body, just so that I don’t accidentally hurt someone? You think I asked for this? You think that I was all happy as Larry when my magic started acting out? No, I was not. We wouldn’t do that to you or us, it’d just be a waste of time. Time I could be using to study for my OWLs.” They gawked at her and she turned and made her way into the middle of the great hall. The house tables had been banished to the sides against the walls, to give a large space.

Fudge cleared his throat. “We would like to see you do something with the element of water.”

“I can do that, water’s actually easy for me right now; I’ve been practising,” she shrugged.

She pulled her wand and conjured a bucket and she filled it with water. She then threw her wand to Sirius and he caught it, slipping it into his pocket.

“Watch,” she whispered.

She kneeled down in front of the large bucket and she stared at it, her eyes narrowing. It was taking slightly longer than normal because it was a larger body of water than she was used to.

One of the Aurors, Litl, snorted at her.

“We should just leave now,” he muttered and the other Auror laughed.

The laughter stopped when the bucket started to vibrate, then it grew more powerful until it was shaking violently and water was sploshing over the sides. Water suddenly erupted and it flew into the air. Hermione commanded it to form into the Hogwarts castle and she looked away from it to The Ministry employees and she smirked at their awed expressions.

She then stood up and sent her thoughts over to the water, willing it to do what it had the night she was with Fred and George in the common room. The water swarmed around them in the air and then it fell towards them. They all flinched expecting to get wet, but they didn’t. They opened their eyes and they saw millions of water molecules floating in front of them, as if it had been paused.

“That’s amazing,” Sirius said awed. “You’ve improved immensely and it’s not even been a week.” She smiled at him and felt her cheeks heat up at his praise.

Suddenly the water collected above Litl and it dropped over him, soaking him from head to toe. He gasped in shock and Sirius burst out laughing.

“To be fair, you did deserve that, Mate,” he said through his guffaws. Dumbledore chuckled and McGonagall appeared to be doing her best to remain stoic, though failing miserably with the smile that was pulling at her mouth.

“Next, is earth,” Fudge said, ignoring the sniggers from The Ministry employees.

Hermione furrowed her brow in thought. “I’ve only had two experiences with earth, but I’ll see what I can do,” she replied. She got down onto her knees and pressed her hand against the cold, stone floor.

She saw flowers and vines sprouting through the stone from the mud underneath the castle’s foundations. In fact, she saw a stalk, a beanstalk, she realised with a giggle.

She could feel the ground shaking beneath her and her breathing sped up, her body was shaking and she gritted her teeth. It was a lot harder than a single, small rose. She had to force the stalk through several layers of solid stone.

She opened her eyes and took a deep breath when she saw the small tip of a stalk sticking out, in-between the flooring. She forced more magic into the stalk, picturing it growing and growing, like Jack and the Beanstalk.

The ground shook as if it was being affected by a small earthquake, then she gasped and fell backwards, landing onto her bottom and panting in exhaustion with a bead of sweat streaking across her forehead. Her eyes opened and she laughed breathlessly when she saw the ten-foot-wide beanstalk, reaching all the way to the top of the ceiling and disappearing amongst the enchanted clouds.

“Brilliant, Kitten,” Sirius beamed. “An afterthought,” he interjected. “How are you going to get rid of it?” he asked amused.

“Ah, Merlin’s beard!” she cursed and he laughed at her. “I hadn’t thought of that,” she frowned.

“Do not fret, Miss. Black, it will be taken care of,” Dumbledore chuckled, his eyes twinkling in amusement.

“Fire,” Fudge interrupted impatiently.

Hermione sighed and stood up. The torches that lined the stone walls had been lit and she stared at one, in particular, it was fifteen feet away from her. She willed it to come to her and it did.

She held her hand out and the flame suddenly left the torch, leaving only the base, the flickering flames floated through the air, growing wilder as it got closer to her. She sighed when the flames licked at her fingers, and she giggled when it tickled.

She stepped back and the flames followed her. She lifted her hand and clicked her fingers, the ball of flames disappeared, leaving a puff of smoke behind.

“Air,” Fudge spoke.

Cameron stepped forward and walked so that he stood in front of her.

“This isn’t a regular broom, all magic has been deactivated, it’s essentially a muggle household cleaning item,” he shrugged. He then mounted the broom. “Make me fly.”

Her eyes widened. “I can’t,” she spluttered. “I could hurt you, I haven’t mastered my abilities,” he snorted.

“What I’ve seen so far says otherwise, I’m used to getting banged about, that’s why I’m here. We need to see just how powerful you are and how much control you have over the elements.”

She sighed. “Your funeral,” she muttered.

She stepped back from him and took a deep breath. What she needed was a force of wind strong enough to lift him off the ground, she’s flung Malfoy away from her twice, she was sure could do it.

She cupped her hands together and imagined a tornado sitting in her palms. She imagined it tickling her, cooling her skin. She opened her eyes and parted her hands to see a tiny tornado floating above her palms.

She narrowed her eyes and slowly pulled her hands apart and the tornado grew in size, she dropped her hands leaving it the size of half of her height. She lifted her hand and pushed it in the direction of Cameron. The tornado swirled over to him and it swept him up, his feet no longer touching the ground.

She waved her hand in the air, side to side, in circles and the broom followed her movements. She slowly brought her hand down and Cameron was gently lowered to the floor.

“That was pretty awesome,” he grinned and she chuckled.

“Finally, the mystery ability, Quintessence. What is your ability?”

“I can conjure lightning.”

“Now that is _definitely_ awesome,” Cameron commented.

“There’s just one problem.”

“And that is?” Hunter asked.

“I haven’t harnessed the power yet, I don’t know how to control it. My emotions affect it and I’m not yet able to control it willingly like I can the other elements.”

“So you can’t prove it?” he challenged.

“She can,” Sirius interrupted before Hermione summoned her wand from him and hexed the Auror for his comment. He stepped forward and moved over to her. He bent down slightly as he whispered her ear.

He pulled back amused and walked away to a safe distance. Hermione’s face had turned red, her hair started sparking with little flashing lightning bolts and flickering of flames, before her hands clenched tightly by her sides.

“HE WHAT?” she growled angrily. And there it was. Rain pounding against the floor, a loud crash of thunder and a terrifying flash of lightning, that just missed hitting Fudge. They all stared in awe.

“I’m just kidding, Kitten,” Sirius chuckled.

It took her a little while to register his words and reign in her anger. When her anger had dissipated, the storm did too, leaving behind several soaked wizards and witches.

“Anger and fear, that’s how she conjures lightning, but she can’t control it yet,” Sirius shrugged. “Is that all the evidence that you need, gentlemen?”

They were gawking at her.

“No, just a few more tests,” Fudge said, far more enthusiastic than he’d previously been. “Gentlemen, please step forward.”

~000~000~000~

“It’s true, the Blue Mage has come to us,” Fudge whispered in awe. “Imagine the possibilities!”

“No!” Sirius said instantly, from his place kneeling beside his daughter who had passed out from the amount of magic she had used for the tests. He hated seeing her in pain, but if she was exhausted, she might not have nightmares. It may have been a blessing in disguise.

“You will not use my daughter for anything. Every decision she makes in her life, will be that, _her_ decision. For you to attempt to manipulate the Blue Mage would be disrespectful,” Sirius said gravely, they all paled at the thought. “You have confirmed that my daughter is the Blue Mage, we’ve already given you a statement for the _Daily Prophet_ to use; we’re no longer needed here.” Sirius swept his daughter up into his arms and then stood and left the great hall.

“The Blue Mage will bring prosperity to us,” Fudge said quietly.

“We’re going to need it,” a deep voice rumbled from under the robes of Agent Comet. “Lady Black must be protected.”

“From who?” Hunter snorted.

“You-Know-Who.”

Before anyone could reply, he turned into a raven and flew out of an open window.


	13. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Page Count: 7

**Hogwarts - Friday 12th January 1996**

Hermione woke feeling calm and rested. She didn’t know how long she had been asleep for but she’d had no nightmares, it was the best night’s sleep she’d ever had. She sat up and looked around, she was in her bedroom and Sirius was sat at her desk eating breakfast.

“Good morning, Kitten,” he said smiling. “How are you feeling?”

“Good, really good actually, what happened? How long have I been asleep for?”

“After completing the final test, your body couldn’t handle the magical depletion and you fell into magical exhaustion and passed out. You used a large amount of your power yesterday; you’re still new to this and so your power usage is limited. As you become more skilled in your powers, that limitation will expand, allowing you to use more than before. It’s just after seven in the morning and you’ve been asleep since not long after eleven yesterday morning.”

“Twenty-two hours!”

“Yes, your body needed to recover from all that strain on your magic and energy levels. It’s a good thing you woke at all; most that suffer magical exhaustion fall into a coma.”

She gulped and nodded at his words.

“I suppose that I should get ready for school,” she mumbled. She climbed off her bed and walked to her bathroom.

“Kitten?” she turned around and she only just caught the newspaper that was thrown at her before it smacked her in the face.

_Hermione Black: The Blue Mage_

_It has been confirmed by Minister Cornelius Fudge, that Hermione Black –previously known as Hermione Granger- the daughter of Lord Sirius Black, is the next Blue Mage and she has come to Europe._

_Yesterday morning, after a series of tests –which we can only assume involved controlling the elements- and gruelling hours of work, the new Lady Black was rewarded with the title of being the true Blue Mage for the next five hundred years, until her abilities are to be passed on._

_Minister Fudge held a press conference at the Ministry to make a statement._

_“Wednesday lunchtime, I received a letter from Lord Sirius Black claiming that his daughter, Hermione Black, was the next Blue Mage. Of course, we could not ignore his claims and so a team was assembled. On Thursday morning at precisely nine-thirty am, testing began on Hermione Black. After just under three hours, I am delighted to confirm that Hermione Black is, indeed, the Blue Mage.”_

_“Where is Hermione Black now?” this reporter asked._

_“Miss. Black is currently resting after completing the testing, which are challenging, vigorous and tiring.”_

_“What does the testing entail?”_

_“I am bound by magic to protect the secret of the testing process; I can, however, give a brief description. Miss. Black was required to provide evidence of her ability to control the five elements, which she did. I cannot reveal how she completed this portion of the test.”_

_“What is her ability in regards to the fifth element, Quintessence?”_

_“Unfortunately, I cannot give an answer, to do so would disrespect Miss. Black’s privacy in which could hold unknown consequences. The next portion of the test was to see how Miss. Black’s magic reacted to being threatened, followed by how Miss. Black’s magic would react to someone she cared for being threatened. The tests were not kind to Miss. Black and she is suffering from magical exhaustion.”_

_“Will Miss. Black be holding a press conference? What will she do as the Blue Mage?”_

_“I am unaware of Miss. Black’s intentions, but she has provided a statement, which I will now read for you all. ‘I was having magical outbursts that I couldn’t control and slowly my elemental abilities started happening at times I couldn’t explain. It was a week later that I confided in my father about my magical outbursts. The day before my return to Hogwarts, my father explained to me about The Blue Mage and what she is and what she stands for. It was difficult to digest and I’m still coming to terms with what it means to me to be a Blue Mage. I understand that this is a very exciting time for everyone, but I ask that the public please respect my privacy at this moment in time. Not only am I still digesting the news myself, I have the added stress of preparing for my OWLs and learning to control my abilities.”_

_We have not yet been able to contact Miss. Black or Lord Black, so we can only assume that she is yet to awaken from her magical exhaustion._

“Well, that wasn’t as bad as it could’ve been,” she commented.

He snorted. “Not even Rita Skeeter is stupid enough to disrespect you now, everyone's afraid of the consequences it'll have.”

~000~000~000~

Hermione took a deep breath and with Padfoot at her side she stepped through the doors of the great hall.

As she stepped through all chatter stopped and all eyes turned to her and before she knew it, everyone had stood from their seats and had rushed towards her, stopping right in front of her and shouting over each other to be heard. Hermione’s breathing increased as she couldn’t escape the crowd of students; they surrounded her.

She was being touched left, right and centre and it was sending her into flashbacks.

“THAT IS ENOUGH!” Dumbledore’s voice roared over the great hall, the Sonorous Charm he used greatly magnifying his voice. All sound stopped and they turned to look at Dumbledore in surprise.

“Miss. Black is dealing with unimaginable circumstances and she has very recently awoken from magical exhaustion, if you do not allow Miss. Black to breathe, you will all earn yourselves detention.”

The crowd grumbled and slowly dispersed, heading back to their seats but still watching Hermione. Fred, George and Harry stayed.

“What’s a Blue Mage?” Harry asked confused.

“We’ll explain later, Harry,” Fred mumbled. “Are you alright, Hermione?” he asked her softly.

She nodded, her breathing still coming out in laboured pants, her eyes focused on the floor and her body shaking slightly.

Fred and George looked at each other worriedly and then nodded in agreement to their unspoken conversation.

“Come here, Princess,” George spoke, opening his arms. She didn’t hesitate and moved into his arms and clung to him, pulling Fred to her as well.

“It’s okay, it’ll get better when the novelty wears off,” Fred whispered.

“Not with something like this,” she mumbled.

“I was trying to make you feel better,” he chuckled.

“Try harder,” she replied.

George chuckled at her. “You should’ve seen the look on Ron’s face, priceless. Malfoy’s was even better, Parkinson’s...” he whistled. “I wish I had a camera, should’ve nicked Colin Creevey’s.”

She gave a light laugh.

“Okay, now I feel better.”

“How are you feeling?” Fred asked her.

“I feel rested, since I was magically exhausted I didn’t have nightmares. I woke not long after seven, I was out for close to twenty-two hours.”

“Lazy sod,” George teased.

“Have you eaten?” Fred asked, rolling his eyes at his brother.

“Not yet,” she shook her head.

“Let’s get you some breakfast then.”

They released her from their hug and together they walked to the Gryffindor table. Fred and George sat on either side of her, Harry opposite her and Padfoot sat on the floor behind her.

Hermione picked her breakfast foods and started eating.

“How did you do in the tests?” Fred asked her. Hermione knew that everyone close enough to her was listening, they didn’t even bother hiding it.

“I had to prove that I could control the elements. First was water. I moulded it into the castle and then separated the water into molecules.”

“Like you did for us in the common room?” Fred asked.

“Yes, but on a much larger scale and I poured it over one of the Aurors present; he was being a prat.” They laughed at her. “Next I had to command the element of earth. I forced a beanstalk to grow from under the stone foundations of the castle. Next I had to command fire. I had a flame from a torch move over to me, it floated in the air and came over to me and I made it disappear. Then next was air. Daniel Cameron...”

“Montrose Magpie, Daniel Cameron?” Harry interrupted, a stunned and awe-like look on his face.

“Yep, he’s the Head of the Magical Sports and Games Department, he was part of the team from the Ministry.”

“You met _the_ Daniel Cameron?”

“Yes.”

“What’s he like?”

“Arrogant,” she snorted. “He asked me to use my control over air to make him fly on a broom that had all of the magic deactivated. I’m glad I was able to do it without hurting him.”

“The last element?” Harry asked.

“Quintessence,” she nodded. “Quintessence is associated with many different abilities and powers. Every Blue Mage has a different ability. The previous two had telekinesis and astral projection.”

“And what’s your ability?”

“I’ll tell you later.”

He looked disappointed but nodded.

“It’s worth the wait, her ability is awesome,” George grinned.

“You know?” he asked surprised.

“Yep, witnessed it a few times too, quite frightening, Malfoy looked to have shit his pants when he was on the receiving end of it the other day,” George said proudly. Harry just stared as the twins laughed, fondly remembering Malfoy’s reaction.

“Hermione?”

Hermione turned around to see a first year Gryffindor stood behind her, looking nervous.

“Yes, Sarah,” Hermione replied with a smile.

“What’s a Blue Mage?” she asked, her eyes darting everywhere.

“A Blue Mage is a witch that has the ability to control the five elements. She is the only thing that can control the elements. She protects people and their land. In times of war she remains neutral, making sure that neither side has too great of an advantage, but she must not actively be involved. Blue Mages are warriors, we right the wrongs of others. We are essentially, the living embodiment of Mother Nature.”

“Joshua said that you’re powerful, if anyone disrespects you bad things happen.” Joshua was her brother and in the year above Hermione. She looked down the table to see everyone staring at her.

“Then your brother is correct, Sarah, as much as I hate to admit it, I am a powerful witch and my abilities are becoming easier to control. It is said that if anyone is to harm or disrespect a Blue Mage, terrible consequences will befall them. I don’t know if that’s true or not, as far as I’m aware, no one has ever tried to test that theory.”

“Can I see?” she asked, shifting on her feet. Hermione sighed and looked at the anxious first year.

Fred spoke. “If you show them something, they might back off a little, seeing for themselves will make them believe that you shouldn’t be messed with.”

“Fine,” she mumbled. “Come with me.”

Hermione stood from the table and made her way to the front of the hall, standing in front of the head’s table and facing everyone, who had gone quiet and was watching her eagerly.

Hermione walked up to the head’s table. “May I?” she asked, gesturing to the vase of freshly cut flowers.

“Of course, Miss. Black,” Dumbledore’s eyes twinkled. She removed a thornless rose from the vase and turned back to the students.

Hermione looked down at Sarah who stood next to her and then her attention moved to the yellow rose in her hand. She cupped the rose in her hands and cleared her mind. A few seconds later Hermione lifted her hands and threw the rose in the air. As she did, thousands of roses of every colour started falling from the ceiling, landing in people’s food, on the tables and on the floor. Everyone gasped and whispered excitedly.

When she heard a snort she turned her attention to it. Pansy Parkinson.

“Anyone could cast a Duplication Charm, you’re not a Blue Mage, I don’t know how you fooled the Minister.”

The hall went silent and everyone gawked at her words.

Hermione’s eyes narrowed. She wanted proof, Hermione would give her it.

Hermione focused her mind on the water in the hall. She allowed her magic to flow freely, not bothering to contain it. She slowly lifted her hands from her sides and raised them in the air. When she heard gasps of awe she opened her eyes.

The great hall was filled with gawking and awed students and professors. Hermione had made all of the water in the great hall rise from every jug and goblet and it floated in the air above everyone, but not only water. Pumpkin juice, orange juice, tea and coffee had also responded to her command, they too floated in the air.

Hermione breathed out and the liquids separated into single molecules, surrounding everyone and they reached out and touched them. This was quickly becoming Hermione’s favourite trick. She slowly lowered her hands and every molecule returned to where they had come from.

The great hall erupted into applause as everyone clapped and whistled and Hermione blushed over the yells of amazement and praise.

When it finally died down everyone looked at Hermione expectantly, before she could do anything further, Pansy stood up and stumbled away from the Slytherin table. She ran into the wall and slid down it until she hit the floor and she started screaming and clutching at her stomach.

Everyone watched in horror and Hermione panicked. Snape rushed forward from his seat at the head’s table and he kneeled down next to her.

“I’m not doing it, I swear,” Hermione said hysterically.

“As much as I hate to admit it, I believe you, Miss. Black,” Snape drawled.

Pansy stopped screaming. “Punish the bitch!” she screeched. She started screaming again, before stopping and panting with tears falling down her face.

“Watch your tone, Miss Parkinson!” Snape snapped. “Miss. Black is not the cause for your pain, you are. You disrespected The Blue Mage and you suffered the consequences. She is not able to harm another innocent witch or wizard because she was born to protect them.”

“My father will hear of this,” she promised.

“And he won’t do a thing, he is not stupid enough to disrespect The Blue Mage, he would likely punish you himself once he discovers what you did,” Snape hissed in her ear.

Dumbledore cleared his throat and stood, claiming everyone’s attention.

“Let this be a warning to you all, the consequences of disrespecting or harming The Blue Mage are real. Miss. Black is not able to control the consequences and she does not cause them, so it’s pointless in being upset with or afraid of her. You will have to watch every comment you make, every action you do when around her, for it won’t be her fault if the magics of the world decides you need to be punished.” Everyone digested his words. “Professor Snape, please escort Miss. Parkinson to the hospital wing for testing of any lasting damage. Miss. Black, do not feel guilty for what transpired, you are not to blame, now, I suggest everyone prepares to leave, lessons will be starting shortly.”

Hermione walked over to her table and picked up her bag, idly walking out of the great hall with Padfoot at her heels and Fred and George on either side of her.

“You heard Dumbledore, it wasn’t your fault,” Fred said softly.

“Yeah, there’s always been warnings of consequences; no one has been stupid enough to test them.”

“Enter Parkinson,” Fred nodded. “I always knew she wasn’t the smartest person to walk the halls, but to disrespect a Blue Mage...” he snorted. “She just took stupidity to a whole new level.”

“Yeah, you have nothing to feel guilty for, so you can stop those thoughts right now, Lady Black,” George scolded softly.

“Now, first lesson, I believe it’s potions, let’s get the lovely lady there without any more hassle.”

“Right you are, Freddie, our girlfriend has a few nasty hexes up her sleeve.”

“And a mean right hook,” Fred added.

“Not to mention all that scary shit she can now do with the elements,” George shivered.

They then slowly took her hands, making her realise their intentions and she gripped them tighter. They gave her hands a squeeze and pulled her down the corridor, away from the gawking students that were following them.


	14. Chapter 14

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Page Count: 8

**Hogwarts - Friday 12th January 1996**

Before entering the classroom, Hermione placed kisses to the beaming twins’ cheeks and promised to sit with them at lunch. Padfoot entered the room first, as if scouting for danger and he walked over to Hermione’s seat, she didn’t know how he knew where she sat, but she didn’t question it. She removed her required belongings from her bag and got comfortable, waiting for the lesson to begin.

Thankfully is wasn’t a long wait as Professor Snape glided into the room, his robes billowing behind him as they always seemed to do. Hermione had come to think of it as his signature, just as Dumbledore had hi twinkling eyes, Harry had a constant mop of messy black hair and the mischievous smile the twins always seemed to sport on their faces.

“Quieten down,” he ordered, the whispers stopping. “Miss. Black is a regular student wishing to complete her education, so I suggest you all stop staring at her like idiots,” he drawled. Some of the class looked scolded and turned to face the front, no longer looking at her. “It also wouldn’t be wise to anger her,” he added and the rest of the class paled and turned away from her. She sent Snape a thankful look and he nodded almost unnoticeably.

Hermione was sitting at the end of the bench and thankfully Harry was sitting next to her, with Ronald on his other side. She hadn’t spoken to him since that day in Grimmauld Library, but he hadn’t stopped staring at her since she’d entered the great hall.

Halfway through the lesson she sighed whilst stirring her cauldron, Ron was practically drooling and she was becoming annoyed. She heard a snarl and looked down with a raised eyebrow.

Padfoot was stood up with his teeth bared and his eyes narrowed on Ron. Ron gulped and paled, swiftly looking away from her.

“Miss. Black, keep the mutt under control.”

Padfoot turned around and snarled at Snape.

“Sorry, Professor, you know how he can be, he’s a little protective and I sometimes question his sanity,” she winked at the now pouting dog.

Snape’s mouth twitched in amusement. “As do I, Miss. Black, on a regular basis,” he then turned and started to make his rounds of the classroom, insulting every student’s attempt at brewing their potion. 

~000~000~000~

After attending Arithmancy and Ancient Runes, Hermione and Padfoot entered the great hall for lunch. The twins were already seated, but they were unusually sat at the end of the table, rather than the middle. She assumed they had done it for her, to give her some semblance of privacy.

She made her way over to them and they stood when she reached them, they smiled and greeted her and she took a seat in-between them with Padfoot on the floor behind her. She filled a plate with food for him and placed it on the floor before filling a plate for herself.

“I take it you’re sat here for a reason,” she spoke, motioning to their new seating arrangement which happened to be the closest seats to the great hall doors.

“Well, we didn’t want anything like this morning happening again, -” began Fred.

“- So we decided it was best to have an easy escape route to keep you safe,” George finished.

She felt her eyes watering and she quickly kissed their cheeks for their thoughtfulness, they beamed in response.

“So, anything good happen in classes, Love?”

There it was again, the form of endearment fell from George’s lips and her stomach fluttered.

“Not really, Padfoot snarled at Ron for drooling over me for over half of the lesson, he then snarled at Snape and I teased him on his mental sanity.” They heard a growl from Padfoot and she laughed. “Arithmancy, most just stared at me, even Professor Vector, so I didn’t get much work done,” she grumbled and they chuckled at her. “Ancient Runes wasn’t too bad, just a lot of whispers.”

“Only half a day to go,” Fred commented her.

“Care of magical creatures, at least I know Hagrid won’t treat me any differently. Then I have charms, that’ll be fun,” she sighed. “Finally transfiguration, Professor McGonagall will keep everyone in line.”

“She will,” they nodded in agreement.

“So, to take your mind off everything do you want to give us another lesson?” George asked her.

“We have a meeting tonight,” she reminded them.

“We can just stay behind afterwards, or even just stay away from the others, they’ll be learning the Patronus anyway, but thanks to you, we’re more advanced,” Fred grinned.

“A sparrow?” George said suddenly.

“No,” she shook her head amused.

“Bear?” Fred asked hopefully.

“Nope.”

“Tiger?” George supplied.

“Nope.”

“Dammit,” he cursed and she laughed at his frustrated expression. “We will figure it out,” he promised.

“This century?” she teased.

“Cheeky witch,” Fred nudged her and she laughed at him.

The laughter was cut short when a beautiful and imposing eagle soared into the great hall, landing elegantly on the Slytherin table and in front of Malfoy no less, carrying a red envelope.

“Oh, shit!” George grinned. “Someone’s got a howler,” he sang and everyone had turned to watch the scene unfold.

Malfoy gulped and reached for the letter, the eagle flying away immediately.

The letter floated in the air and took on the form of a mouth, moving as it spoke the words written on the parchment.

“Draco Lucius Malfoy!” the voice exclaimed; his skin looked a sickly pale colour. “I have been informed by Sirius that you have not only put your hands on a woman, but a Black no less. How dare you treat a lady that way? I thought I raised you better. And to not only harm a woman, your cousin, Lady Black _and_ the Blue Mage, too. What on the name of magic were you thinking? If you treat your cousin with anything less than respect and kindness, you will feel my hex from Malfoy Manor! Do I make myself clear?” He nodded immediately.

The letter suddenly spun around and in Hermione’s direction and spoke in a much softer and kinder tone.

“Hermione, Dear, you will make a wonderful Lady Black, I am proud that it is you that has the responsibility of continuing on the line of our noble house. If there is anything you need, anything at all, please do feel free to owl me. I presume that with Sirius as your father, you will need a mother figure and I would be delighted to be that for you, My Dear. There are traditions that must be taught to you that can only come from a mother. Draco will give you the owl address. Congratulations on your title, I am honoured to have you as family, you will make the House of Black great again.”

It then spun back to Malfoy.

“Heed my words carefully, Draco!” the howler warned, before setting itself ablaze and turning into a pile of ash and smoke that rained down over Malfoy’s head.

The hall was quiet, that was until Fred and George stood up and applauded loudly.

“Bloody brilliant, never seen something more entertaining in my life!” George said loudly for all to hear.

“And that’s saying a lot, considering all the things we’ve done,” Fred commented.

George nodded in agreement with his twin’s words. “Yeah, like that time we glued Percy to a garden gnome.”

“Or when we cut Bill’s hair in his sleep.”

“Or when we set fire to Charlie’s broom.”

“Or when we locked Ron in a closet filled with spiders,” Fred offered with a grin.

“Or that time we stole Dad’s wand to try and do an unbreakable vow.”

“Or when we put itching powder in Mum’s cardigan, I’m surprised we survived that one actually.”

“Merlin, what about the time we glued Ginny’s tampons to Bill’s face!” George spoke with a terrifying grin. Ginny had gone bright red and was spluttering in embarrassment.

“That was last week,” Fred said laughing.

“Yeah, we’re not one to recycle pranks but I think we should with that one, funniest thing we’ve ever done. I don’t know who looked more outraged. Bill, Ginny, Mum, Dad,” George listed off, Hermione was trying to stifle her giggles and the twins winked at her.

“Messrs. Weasley,” Dumbledore’s voice spoke.

“Professor,” they greeted with a cheeky grin.

“As amusing and creative your pranks are, I don’t think it’s acceptable talk for the dinner table.”

“Of course, Professor, sorry,” they replied, looking far from apologetic. They sat down and turned their attention back to Hermione.

“I still can’t believe you did that to Bill,” Hermione laughed. “I thought Sirius was going to pass out, he couldn’t stop laughing. You could’ve at least waited until he wasn’t on the staircase to wake Bill, he almost fell down them. You could’ve killed my father before the adoption papers even came through.”

They grinned at her. “Sorry, Love, we’d been waiting hours for him to wake and we couldn’t wait any longer.”

“What am I going to do with you?” she said fondly, shaking her head.

“Keep us, hopefully,” Fred spoke, as George said. “Anything you want.” She laughed at them.

“So, Mummy Malfoy was awfully cheery,” Fred commented.

“Don’t you just love how she managed to slip into the letter that she and Malfoy were related to The Blue Mage half a dozen times?”

They snorted at her.

“It was more than that actually,” George said.

“Of course, most Pureblood families are related in some way, but the Malfoys and Lestranges are the closest relatives to the Blacks, she managed to scold the blonde ponce, offer you her help and remind and gloat to everyone, just how connected she and the Malfoys are with being related to The Blue Mage,” Fred spoke.

“Is this what my life’s going to be like from now on?” she sighed.

“Afraid so, Princess,” Fred spoke. The twins took her hands and gave them a squeeze and she felt a nudge at her back, Padfoot.

“We’ll be a buffer for you, we won’t let anything happen to you,” George spoke and she smiled at them all, knowing he meant his words.

~000~000~000~

“I hope everyone had a good holiday,” Harry spoke and he received murmurs in reply. “Good, today we’ll do a quick review of what we learned before the holidays and then we’ll start on learning how to cast a Patronus.” Murmurs of excitement broke out. “Break into small groups and duel between you, in half an hour we’ll start Patronus lessons. Hermione and I will be wandering around if you need us.”

The twins immediately took Hermione’s hands and walked away from the rest of the D.A. heading over to a corner in the room, Padfoot stayed in his place by the side of the entrance to the Room of Requirement, watching the rebellious, duelling students in pride.

“So, the last time we practised you both managed to conjure a dull grey glow. What we are aiming for is a bright blue-silver colour, once you have secured that; your Patronuses should take form.”

“Okay, then, now that we understand what we need to do, it should be easier now,” Fred commented.

“It would go a lot quicker if you just showed us yours,” George grinned.

“No!”

He scowled and she laughed at him.

~000~000~000~

“I’m quite proud of you both,” Hermione said, as they made their way down the corridors, making their way back to the common room. Padfoot was slightly ahead of them, using his enhanced senses to make a path that kept them out of the way of a certain evil professor and pet students.

“You are?” Fred asked surprised, his ears turning pink.

“Of course I am,” she hit his arm gently. “You managed to conjure a silver glow, it took me months to do that, you’ve done it in about six weeks. You just have to keep making happy memories, ones that you can use and before you know it, you’ll be part of a small percentage of wizarding folk that can cast a Patronus, not to mention, you can officially join the Order.”

They beamed at her. “Are you still going to join the Order?” George asked her.

She frowned. “I’m not sure, I’m supposed to stay neutral and nothing has happened to force my hand yet. Merlin knows I want to, but I can’t.”

“It’s okay, we understand,” Fred said softly.

George took her hand and laced his fingers through hers and Fred slowly put his arm around her shoulders, pulling her into his side slightly.

“You hardly flinch anymore,” George spoke, giving her a gentle look.

“Sorry?” she said confused.

“You hardly flinch when we touch you now,” he explained. “Before you would jump a mile in the air at the simplest of touches and now look at you.”

She shrugged. “I suppose you make it easier, I know that you’d never do anything to hurt me, you’ve proved that countless times, especially after everything you’ve done for me. You’re patient with me, you don’t judge me and you don’t get mad or hurt when I flinch away from your touch. It was a case of mind over matter, I suppose. It’s only with you two though, no one else and Sirius and Remus don’t count, since I’ve been fine with their touch since they found me. They’ were my saviours, and I knew I could trust them with my life and my safety. I can handle touches such as this,” she gestured to their current position. “But anything else will take a while.”

“We don’t expect anything from you, Hermione, especially not after everything you went through. We told you, you make the first move. You control our actions. You’re the one in charge,” Fred spoke softly.

“You’re far too kind to me.”

~000~000~000~

Thank Merlin it was Friday, no more classes filled with idiots. _‘Dunderheads, the lot of them,’_ he thought with a snort.

He exited the gates of Hogwarts, walking off the grounds and to a safe place to apparate. He turned on his heel with his wand in hand, his black robes billowed as he disappeared from view, only to land outside the wards of a cabin high in the Scottish Mountains.

He slowly walked through the invisible barriers, the wards accepting his magical signature and his blood.

He made his way toward the small cabin that was maybe ten feet in length and width and twelve in height. The old cabin looked deserted and rotten, pieces of wood missing from different sides of the cabin, the windows were glassless and there were holes in the roof, but appearances could be deceiving.

Snape opened the cabin and stepped inside of the warmth, the biting Scottish Mountain temperature being forced away from him as the lit fireplace greeted him.

The room was simple and practical, much bigger than what it should’ve been and far more habitable than it should’ve been. Two large black couches sat opposite each other, near the fireplace with a glass coffee table in the centre. An entire wall was made up of books and a small kitchen area was off to the right, leaving only two doors, one a bedroom and the other a bathroom.

“Agent Comet,” Snape greeted.

“Severus,” he replied with a tilt of his head.

“Your identity?”

“Still unknown.”

Severus smirked as the Unspeakable lowered the hood of his cloak.

“We need to talk about Hermione Black.”

“Yes, we do,” he agreed.

They both took seats opposite each other and The Unspeakable flicked his wand, summoning a bottle of fire whiskey and two tumblers from the kitchen.

“It is true, what you told me.”

“Obviously,” Snape drawled with a roll his eyes.

“I believed you to some extent, I just needed to see it for myself.”

“And?”

“Frightening,” he replied, causing Snape to smirk.

“Yes, she is. She was terrifying before all of this came to be, what with her power, intelligence and knack for vengeance, now she’s more powerful than ever.”

“He’ll want her; we can’t allow that, I won’t allow that to come of her.”

“Why?”

“You know very well why, things are different this time around,” he shrugged. “I will need help protecting her.”

“She can protect herself,” Snape said confidently. “Her power grows stronger by the day, as does her control. She will not follow the Dark Lord and she will not fight for the Order, not unless her hand is forced.”

“And it will be. You’re in a better position than I to observe her. I’ll get you any information I can on possible abduction plans so it can be thwarted.”

“I hope you know what you’re doing,” Snape said.

“I do, I am protecting the Blue Mage and in doing so, I am protecting my family.”


	15. Chapter 15

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Page Count: 9

**Hogwarts - Wednesday 14th February 1996**

Weeks flew by for Hermione. Weeks of gawking and staring, whispers and murmurs, of everyone being nice to her and trying to be her friend, but she wasn’t fooled. She knew exactly what they wanted from her and so she was polite, civil, but nothing else.

Sirius had begrudgingly left the castle leaving Hermione, much to the displeasure of both of them; Hermione loved having her father around and Sirius had loved being there for her and Harry. But with him gone, she still had Harry and the twins with her.

She had taken to spending more time with Fred and George to escape the crowds of Hogwarts and neither of them minded. When she was with them in the Room of Requirement or their secret library room, she would practice using her abilities and the twins would watch in amazement whilst encouraging her to continue and she would either blush madly or beam in response.

It was now Valentine’s Day, February 14th. Whilst other couples were all lovey-dovey and having disgusting public displays of affection or the singles were running around trying to find dates or being grumpy, the twins were currently dragging Hermione through the corridors with her hands clasped in theirs.

“Where are we going?” she finally asked.

“Well, we know you would kill us if we even thought about taking you out somewhere at the weekend and so we thought we’d do something you’d like instead,” Fred answered.

“And that is?” she questioned.

“You’ll see; we’re almost there,” George said, smirking at her annoyed expression.

She was confused when they dragged her into the library, through the maze of bookcases and to their secret room.

When they entered she saw it looked exactly how it was supposed to, except the table and chairs had been pushed against the wall and the centre of the floor was covered in soft, thick blankets, pillows and cushions, and several books were piled up on the floor.

“We’ll spend our time on Valentine’s Day doing what you love. Reading.”

“You hate reading,” she frowned.

They shrugged. “It’s not as bad as we thought, you’ve converted us. Thanks to you we’ve learned a lot of useful spells and potions that we can use for our products,” George spoke. “And as much as we hate to admit it, our grades have improved a little too.”

“We thought we’d give you a quiet evening of us doing something together that wouldn’t be scrutinized by the public, just you and us,” Fred said, his ears turning red at the expression she wore on her face. It was soft and kind, awed and thankful. “We just want you to be comfortable, maybe it’s not a traditional Valentine’s date, but we’re not exactly a conventional relationship and, to be honest, none of us or normal.”

“You do realise you’ll never be able to top this, right?”

They grinned. “Probably, but we’ll try anyway,” George spoke.

They pulled her down onto the cushions and blankets and manoeuvred around until they were comfortable.

Fred was lying down on the floor vertically, Hermione laid horizontally with her head propped up against Fred’s stomach and George laid vertically with his head propped up against Hermione’s stomach. Hermione had her book, Advanced Charms 103, levitating above her so she could read without having to hold the book up, since they were preoccupied. One hand was lifted above her head and her fingers were entwined with Fred’s as he read his own book, and the other was running through George’s hair as he too read his book.

They all let out content sighs and read in silence. An hour later they swapped positions so that Hermione was holding George’s hand and running her other hand through Fred’s hair, she chuckled when he sighed.

“Hermione?”

“Yes, George,” she spoke, not even bothering to take her eyes off her book which was levitating in front of her face.

“Are you going to tell us about that project you’re working on?”

“Not yet.”

“Have you completed it?” Fred asked curiously.

“Yes, I’ve completed it.”

“Is it for the D.A?”

“No.”

“Will you tell us what it’s for?” George asked.

“Not yet.”

He huffed.

“Does this project have anything to do with Sirius?” Fred spoke. “We noticed you and him were always sneaking off to the basement during the holidays.”

“Yes, Sirius was helping me with my project,” she confirmed.

“Now that is intriguing, does Harry know? When will you tell us?”

“No, Harry doesn’t know and I’ll reveal all to you when you successfully cast a corporeal Patronus.”

“Why then?” George raised an eyebrow.

“Then I’ll know you’re ready.”

“Ready for what?” they both asked.

“Ready to become a part of the project, Sirius and I will both help you.”

“Help us with what?”

“Conjure a Patronus and I’ll tell you.”

They huffed and she smirked.

~000~000~000~

**Saturday 24th February 1996**

Hermione was leisurely walking down the corridors. It was a Hogsmeade weekend and third years and upwards had all left the castle, leaving it quiet. She took the opportunity to walk around the castle by herself and without being stared at, interrupted or with people trying to befriend her. It was exhausting, now she knew how Harry felt.

She loved walking the corridors and passageways of the castle, she knew the castle better than the back of her hand, but that still didn’t stop her from exploring and looking for any rooms that were hidden from the map, after all, there was already the Room of Requirement and her study room in the library, what’s to say there couldn’t be others?

She turned left on the fourth floor, heading down a corridor that lead to a dead-end with a Hogwarts tapestry hanging on the wall and suits of armour stood in front of an alcove.

“I want to talk to you,” a familiar voice spoke from behind her, that’s when she realised the footsteps falling against the stone floor which she hadn’t paid attention to before.

She stopped and turned around.

“I’m sorry,” she said with a raised eyebrow.

Malfoy seemed to notice his mistake and paled, quickly back peddling. “I mean, can I please talk to you?” he shuffled on his feet nervously.

She eyed him carefully, there was nothing he could do to harm her, she knew that he was terrified of the consequences -as was the entire castle- after witnessing what’d happened to Pansy for simply opening her mouth, plus, she was magically powerful too, she had a huge advantage over him.

“I suppose so,” she said warily.

“I wanted to apologise for the way I’ve treated you over the years,” he muttered.

“You’re only saying that because I’m The Blue Mage and your cousin, otherwise you wouldn’t be apologising.”

“Still, I shouldn’t have behaved that way, it’s not the way I was raised, particularly when I grabbed you. I didn’t think you’d react that way, I’ve never seen anyone so terrified. Why did you react in such a way, I only grabbed you, you’d think I was trying to kill you?”

She stiffened and he eyed her warily.

“It was as if you’d gone into a trance. You were muttering things, strange things. ‘Please don’t hurt me, Daddy, I’ve been a good girl, I promise I haven’t broken any rules,’” he repeated her words from the previous month. “Why would you say those things? Why did my cousin adopt you?”

Her breathing pattern changed, quickly it sped up and she felt like she was going to faint, she stumbled back and caught herself on the wall. Malfoy automatically stepped forward on instinct to try and catch her.

“Why did my cousin adopt you?” he repeated. She looked up at him, fear on her face, she had been found out; her secret was no longer safe.

“My older brother, Kevin,” she muttered, tears gathering in her eyes.

Malfoy frowned. “I didn’t know you had a brother, he’s not here, so I assume he’s a muggle.”

Hermione shook her head. “No, I don’t know whether he was a wizard or muggle. He was two years older than me; he died when I was four. He had Leukaemia, it’s a muggle illness, and he couldn’t be cured and he died at the age of six.” He stared at her in shock at the news. “My parents took it hard and they never moved on from his death. They started drinking; they blamed me for Kevin’s death, said that it was my fault. From the age of four, they started beating me, punching, kicking, slapping, hitting me with a belt, throwing things at me. If I broke the rules I was punished and they would beat me and starve me,” she admitted, tears falling down her face and she slid down the wall whilst he stared horrified.

“When I turned eleven, my biological father Richard, started sexually abusing me. He’d tried to rape me three times but I managed to fight him off, one night during the summer, it was his fourth attempt and Sirius, Remus and Professor Dumbledore found me, Richard was almost successful in raping me, but Sirius kicked my bedroom door down and pulled him off me. The muggle police were called and we gave them our statements, I was taken to the hospital and when I woke up I was safe. Sirius became my legal guardian and he adopted me at Christmas, making me his daughter legally and magically.”

She had never seen Malfoy look so ill, not even when he received the howler from his mother.

“Where are your parents now?” he asked quietly, slowly lowering himself down to the floor, sitting down crossed leg but still a few feet away from her.

“In muggle jail, the trial was a week after I’d been found. Richard was sentenced to life in prison and Jean got a shorter sentence, sixteen to twenty years in prison with chance of parole after fourteen years. I’ll never see them again and that’s the way I want it, I have Sirius now. He’s the best father anyone could ask for,” she wiped at her tears.

“Why didn’t you tell anyone?”

“They wouldn’t believe me. My parents were community people, everyone loved them, no one would’ve believed a word I said. And he would’ve killed me, Richard killed Crookshanks.”

“Crookshanks?” he frowned.

“My familiar.”

“That ginger furball that attacked everything?”

She nodded sadly. “Crookshanks tried to protect me once, Richard snapped his neck in front of me.”

“I understand why you reacted the way you did,” he said softly.

“I don’t like to be touched, I haven’t since my first day here. The only people that I can stand to touch me are Sirius, Remus and now Fred and George, but even with them I have my moments, but it’s getting better. When you grabbed me, you reminded me of him, you looked so much like him that I panicked and I was forced into having flashbacks.”

“I am so sorry, Hermione.”

She looked up from the floor with a stunned look on her face. “You called me Hermione.”

“Yeah, I guess I did, we are family I suppose,” he muttered with a shrug.

She sighed and tipped her head back against the wall. “Well, you have my biggest secret, you can ruin me now. I know you’ve been wanting to do that since our first meeting.”

“I’m not going to tell anyone.” She looked at him with tired eyes. “It’s your secret and I understand why it’s a secret. I understand why you don’t want people to know, I was aware that you seemed to flinch away from touches, but I didn’t think anything of it. Who else knows?”

“The entire Weasley family, Sirius and Remus, Harry and Professors McGonagall, Dumbledore and Snape.”

“That explains the detention he gave me,” he muttered.

“Detention?” she raised an eyebrow.

“For what happened before...” he trailed off. “He locked me in the girl’s bathroom on the second floor with Moaning Myrtle,” he grouched.

Despite herself, Hermione started giggling, before it turned into a full laugh in which she was holding her sides and gasping for breath.

“That’s brilliant!”

“Shut up,” he mumbled.

“No, that’s the best thing I’ve ever heard, that’s far more traumatising than Umbridge’s blood quills,” she sobered immediately and a dark look took over her face.

“How do you know about the blood quills?” he questioned in surprise.

“Harry’s had to use them more than once in detention, Fred and George came back to the common room a few days ago from detention with her, their scars had been reopened and were red raw and their hands were covered in blood. The old cow is going to get what she deserves,” she stated darkly. Malfoy would’ve sworn he saw the clouds outside darken.

“Snape said you couldn’t hurt another witch or wizard.”

“No, I can’t hurt an _innocent_ witch or wizard. Blue Mages exist to protect the innocent and right the wrongs of others, mainly giving out punishments, but once or twice we have been known to use our powers as punishment in more severe cases.”

He gulped. “What are you going to do to her?”

“I haven’t decided yet, but if either, Fred, George or Harry comes back from detention bleeding, you better hide under your bed, Malfoy.”

“Why?” he said, almost afraid to ask due to the terrifying look on her face.

“My power of Quintessence is the ability to conjure lightning; I’m starting to harness it without needing the emotions of anger or fear, but I’ll be feeling so much anger that it wouldn’t be safe for anyone to be in the same room as me.”

“Run for my life, got it,” he nodded.

~000~000~000~

Hermione entered her secret study room in the library. Fred and George were already there and sitting at the table with a few open books littering the table. They had decided to keep the room the way they had it on Valentine’s Day, and so blankets and pillows still covered the floor and the table was still against the wall.

“Hey,” she greeted quietly. They turned around and beamed at her, their smiles dropped quickly when they noticed her puffy face, red eyes and tear-stained cheeks.

“What happened?” they asked quickly, standing up.

She shrugged and kicked her converse off and she removed her cardigan, leaving her in her comfortable jeans and t-shirt. She laid down on top of the blankets on her side and pulled another blanket over herself, snuggling into the warmth it immediately gave her.

The twins shared a worried look and then they kneeled down in front of her.

“Hey, what happened?” Fred asked her softly. “Who are we pranking?”

She smiled slightly. “No one, Malfoy wanted to talk. He apologised for his behaviour towards me over the years.”

“Bloody hell, how much of his pride did he have to suck in for that?” George spoke and Hermione giggled.

“He questioned me about that day in the corridor, he heard me and he wouldn’t let it go. I told him.” They held their breaths. “I told him everything, he looked worse than he did when he received the howler from his mother. He’s not going to tell anyone, he promised me. If there’s one thing I can’t fault him on it’s his loyalty. Slytherins are loyal to their own, and since I’m his cousin, that includes me too.”

“If you trust him that’s your decision, but we’re not going to stop pranking him.”

“I wouldn’t expect you to,” she chuckled at George. “It’s far too entertaining.” 

“Well, I can see you’re not loyal to your own,” Fred teased.

“I’m a Gryffindor, not a Slytherin or Hufflepuff.” They laughed at her.

She suddenly sat up and took their hands in hers, their scarred hands that still looked red and her expression darkened.

“She will pay for what she’s done to you,” she promised.

“It’s alright,” George shrugged.

“No, it’s not, she hurt you both, she broke the law. My magic wants her to be punished. It’s my job to protect the innocent and right the wrongs of others, and I promise you she will learn that every action has repercussions.”

“We’re honestly fine,” Fred said gently.

“Tell that to your scar,” she glowered. “Fairly soon she'll learn that I shouldn’t be crossed. She punished you because of me, she’s been wanting to put me in detention for months. Now that she knows I’m Lady Black and The Blue Mage, she’s scared, as a result, she’s punishing those that I care for and I will not stand for it.”

“You’re kind of scary when you want to be,” George muttered, her expression softened.

“Sorry,” she muttered, before laying back down and getting comfortable.

Fred laid down in front of her, lying on his back and she shuffled closer to him, resting her head on his chest. George moved behind her and offered her his hand, she took it and pulled it over her, resting it against her stomach and he pressed his chest to her back.

“What were you working on?” she asked, sighing in content.

“We’re having a bit of trouble with the Skiving Snack box, we can’t get the Fever Fudge to last more than a minute and then the effects disappear, defeating the whole purpose,” Fred explained.

“You’ve shown me the ingredients list before, right?”

“Yeah, I think so,” George confirmed.

“You use coconut water and pixie wing, correct?” They nodded. “You should substitute pixie wing for fairy wing. They’re naturally stronger with a larger amount of magic contained in the wings, even after removal. They’re also healthier. You should also substitute the coconut water for honey water, not only will it thicken up the potion allowing it to set quicker, you can separate it easier as well as making the Fever Fudge naturally sweeter and more appetizing without having to add sugar.”

“And that is why you are The Brighter Witch,” George murmured. “We would’ve never thought of that.”

“Yes, you would’ve, it just would’ve taken you another day or so before you figured it out. You two are two of the smartest people I’ve ever met,” she assured him.

“You want to try some more?” Fred asked her gently and changing the subject. She knew what he was asking her and she reluctantly nodded her head.

“Just remember to stay calm and take deep breaths,” George reminded her.

Fred removed the arm that was wrapped around her shoulder and he moved it down her back and to the edge of her t-shirt, George removed his hand from hers and moved it down her stomach to the edge of her t-shirt.

They both slipped their hands under her t-shirt and started running their fingertips over her hot and soft skin, George on her stomach and Fred on her back. She immediately stiffened and her eyes slammed shut, her breathing beginning to pick up at an alarming pace.

“It’s only us,” Fred's voice broke through her mental block of everything around her. “It’s only us and we’re not going to hurt you. Remember to take deep, calming breaths and focus on only us. Don’t allow any memories to come to the front of your mind. Forget about them, it’s just us and you and you’re safe.”

She nodded and forced herself to control her breathing, once her breathing slowed she forced herself to relax and she sagged into them both and slowly she opened her eyes to see Fred’s bright turquoise eyes staring at her softly.

“You okay?” George asked her.

She nodded. “Yeah, I’m alright.”

Hermione settled back down as the twins continued to trace patterns on her stomach and back, never straying any further than that.

“It tingles,” Hermione muttered tiredly; she was exhausted, between studying for exams, nightmares, the D.A, learning to control her abilities and homework, she hadn’t been sleeping well and it was evident by her lack of energy and the glamoured bruises under her eyes.

“It tingles?” Fred asked her, she nodded. “It doesn’t hurt or make you feel scared or upset?”

“No, it feels warm and calming.” Those were the last words that left her before her breathing evened out and she fell asleep.

Fred and George shared a smile over their girlfriend sleeping in-between them.

“She looks peaceful,” Fred commented quietly and looking at Hermione’s relaxed expression.

“Good, any idiot can see she hasn’t been sleeping, hopefully, she won’t have any nightmares whilst she’s with us. She should be able to get a decent sleep, curfew’s not for another eight hours, we can always call Dobby for food if we miss dinner.”

Fred agreed, never once stopping in moving his fingertips over her back and neither did George.


	16. Chapter 16

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Page Count: 8

**Hogwarts – Friday 8th March 1996**

Hermione and Fred were in the Room of Requirement, they had decided to skip dinner in the great hall and George had gone down to the kitchens to get them some food.

They were currently sat on the ground covered in blankets and pillows and facing each other. Fred was telling Hermione about a prank they’d pulled on Percy a few years ago and he was beaming and laughing as tears fell from Hermione’s eyes and she gripped her sides, shaking with laughter.

“Why would you do that to him?” she asked through her laughter.

“He deserved it, the prat told Mum that we were the ones that ate the chocolate cake, and it wasn’t even us, it was Ron!” he exclaimed and her laughter grew louder.

“I can only imagine the retribution Ronald found himself on the end of for that stunt,” she mused.

“We threw him into the lake naked,” he nodded, pleased with himself and she started laughing again.

He watched her fondly, a smile tugging at his mouth, his eyes bright as they kept focus on her.

She took a deep breath and forced herself to calm down, and when she did, she noticed the way he was staring at her and her cheeks held a hint of pink.

“Why are you staring at me like that?” she asked quietly.

His smile softened and he chuckled at her.

“I can’t believe you don’t know how beautiful you are.” Her blush darkened.

“I’m not beautiful,” she muttered and she looked down at the ground, fiddling with her fingers.

Fred leaned forward, putting his hand under her chin and tilted her head up so she had to look at him.

“Yes, you are. Your beauty is unrivalled in my opinion, both inside and out.”

“No, it’s not,” she argued.

“Yes, it is. You are beautiful. And until you get sick of us, George and I are always going to be here with you and for you. I promise you that we’ll reverse every bad thought and feeling your parents ever made you think and feel about yourself. I will make you see yourself the way I see you, the way we see you. I will not give up until you can see yourself for the incredible witch you are.”

“I’m damaged.”

“No, you’re just slightly cracked, but you’re almost healed, you’ll likely still have flashbacks, but they won’t be as often. You can live your life without fear. You are not damaged, you are beautiful.” She shook her head. “I’m going to spend every opportunity I get proving that to you,” he whispered.

She hadn’t realised just how close they were to each other, their faces were now inches apart. Unconsciously her eyes flickered down to his mouth, back up to his eyes, then back down to his mouth and her tongue darted out to swipe across her lips.

The corners of his mouth twitched and he leaned in closer.

“Stop me,” he whispered, stopping just before his lips touched hers. She didn’t say anything so he tilted his head down and pressed his mouth to hers.

Her breathing stopped and her eyes closed, but not for the reason Fred thought and he pulled away from her quickly, watching her worriedly.

Hermione had barely felt his lips on hers before he pulled away from her. Her eyes fluttered open and she looked at his worried face in confusion.

“Why’d you pull away?” she frowned.

His eyes searched hers. “You’re alright? You didn’t have flashbacks?” he questioned.

“No, should I have?” It was his turn to look confused. “You’re not him, Fred, I know that, besides, he was more focused on touching me than kissing me, it’s why being touched by others affects me more.”

“You’re alright?”

“I promise you that I’m fine,” she said softly.

He kept his eyes trained on hers as she slowly lifted herself up onto her knees, she took his hands in hers and leaned forward, Fred tilted his head up to keep in eye contact with her.

Her eyes fluttered closed as she tilted her head down and pressed her mouth to his gently, moving her lips over his slowly. It took him a few seconds to get his bearings before he responded. She pulled his hands around her and behind her back and he took the cue and pulled her to him, his arms folded around her back and holding her as her hands moved to loop around his neck.

They heard the door and pulled away from each other with smiles on their faces.

“Dobby’s going to send up some food in fifteen minutes and...” George trailed off when he noticed the atmosphere in the room was different from when he’d left. “What have I missed?” he asked with a raised eyebrow, noticing Hermione’s flushed cheeks and Fred’s far too happy expression.

Hermione bit her lip and shared a look with Fred who raised an eyebrow in return. She bit back her smile and stood up, quickly making her way over to George. To his surprise, she jumped into him, and he had to give himself credit for catching her in time ad he held her around the waist, her head above his and she stared down at him with a twinkle in her eyes that had him mesmerised.

Without giving him any warning, she titled her head down and kissed him and he stood still, surprised. He heard Fred snort and it brought him back to his senses, realising that he currently had a beautiful witch held against him and kissing him. He kissed her back until they were both breathless and they had to pull back for oxygen.

Her eyes sparkled as they gazed at each other, him amazed and her amused.

“So that’s what I missed,” he cleared his throat and she laughed and nodded. “I don’t understand though,” he sounded confused.

“Neither you nor Fred are him. I know you wouldn’t hurt me, it’s different for touching than it is kissing, I’m not as upset by it. I haven’t had any flashbacks.”

“Good to know,” he said, his eyes darkening slightly and she laughed at him.

~000~000~000~

**12 Grimmauld Place - Monday 1st of April 1996**

Hermione was on Eater break, she and the others had arrived at Grimmauld not long ago, and whilst the others were unpacking, Hermione was in the study with Sirius.

“How are you doing?” her father asked her, as they sat in front of the fire.

“Better, a lot better than I was before,” she answered truthfully, Sirius smiled at the news. “I can ask the elements to do almost anything and they will, I’m still having problems with my lightning conjuring though.”

“Fear and anger are difficult emotions to control; it’ll come to you in time, at least you have mastered the other elements.”

“I wouldn’t say I’ve mastered them,” she muttered embarrassed.

“Which means you have” he chuckled at her.

“I still have plenty to learn.”

“Which means you’ll perfect it in a few weeks,” he rolled his eyes good-naturedly. “Are you having any problems at school?”

“Everyone follows me around and stares and whispers. Ron drools, Ginny tries to speak to me but I ignore her as best I can. Malfoy is far kinder than he used to be. We’ve been meeting up a few times a week to talk and do homework together. He’s not as bad as I thought he was, he just had up a good front of being a bully, he’s actually quite sweet, not that he’ll show that side to anyone. Umbridge is pissing me off.”

He frowned; he’d witnessed how the horrid witch behaved during his two weeks stay at Hogwarts.

“My magic wants to punish her, I can feel it, she’s a horrid human being. She’s used a blood quill on Harry and the twins more than once and I want her to suffer,” she said coldly, anger lingering in her tone.

“The twins?”

“She knows that we’re dating, hell, the whole school knows. She knows that Fred and George are important to me, she knows that I care for them. She’s been wanting to punish me for months but she knows she can’t, she will suffer the consequences if she does, so instead, she’s punishing me by hurting them. She’ll get her comeuppance.”

“You’re protective of them, you think of them as equals?” he mused.

“They _are_ my boyfriends,” she replied.

He looked at her thoughtfully.

“Why are you looking at me like that?”

“No reason,” he said innocently. “How’s it going with Fred and George?”

She narrowed her eyes at the way he changed the subject but answered him.

“Really well, actually, I hardly flinch anymore when they touch me.”

“Sex?” he asked shamelessly.

“No, I’m not that comfortable yet, the twins aren’t pressuring me, they’ve never once complained about our relationship, they’ve never once looked at me in pity or sadness when I flinched away from them. Things are really good between us, most of our time together is spent in the library or the Room of Requirement. I don’t flinch when they touch my face, arms, shoulders, stomach or back.”

“And what have you been doing that they’ve seen your stomach and back?” he smirked, finding amusement in the way she shifted in her seat.

“Nothing, we just laid together and they ran their hands over my back and stomach until I was comfortable with their touch. I fell asleep.”

“You fell asleep?” he asked surprised. “Did you have any nightmares?”

“That’s the weird part, I didn’t.”

He was looking at her strangely.

“That’s interesting,” he muttered.

“What is?”

“Nothing,” he said innocently and she snorted.

“That look doesn’t work on me, not only have I witnessed it on your face countless times, I see it every day plastered on Fred’s and George’s faces.” He chuckled at her. “What’s interesting?”

“I’ll let you know, are those boys of yours ready to join us?”

“Not yet, but I suspect they’re not far off a corporal Patronus.”

~000~000~000~

**Thursday 11th April 1996**

“Please?”

“No!”

“Please?”

“No, it’s not safe.”

“Please, I just want to go outside. The weather’s actually pleasant for a change and I want to spend some time with you, just you and me without everyone around. It’s the Muggle World, no one knows who I am, please,” Hermione begged.

Sirius sighed in defeat. “Fine, the Muggle World, but no more than three hours.”

“I can work with that, let’s go,” she grinned.

She grabbed his hand and dragged him through the house and to the front door. She pulled down a light weight jacket and slipped it on over her t-shirt, Sirius doing the same with his leather jacket she’d gifted him at Christmas, of which he made sure to wear often.

“Where exactly are we going?” he asked as she opened the door and they stepped out into the spring weather, the sun shining brightly with a light breeze.

“It’s a surprise; I’ll have to apparate us.”

“You don’t have your license,” he reminded her.

“I don’t have my license because The Ministry won’t recognise my coming of age until next year. So I am technically seventeen and of legal age to apparate. I would just like to point out not having a license doesn’t mean I’m not capable of performing apparition.”

“Very well, just don’t kill me,” he joked.

“I can’t hurt the innocent,” she replied seriously and he shook his head at her. They walked further down the street before Hermione took hold of his arm and apparated them away to the destination she had in mind.

~000~000~000~

They landed outside a large race track with tyres covering the metal edges that marked out the route to be taken, black marks littered the concrete floor and loud noises hit their ears as two figures flew past them in karts.

“What is that?” Sirius asked, looking excited.

“Go-karting,” she grinned. “I’ve always wanted to try it, let’s go!”

She grabbed his hand and dragged him over to the entrance, he followed dumbly staring at those currently on the track and racing around it.

Hermione reached the reception area and paid for them both and they were directed into a changing room and instructed to put on the coveralls.

Hermione’s were far too big for her and bright red, Sirius’ fit him perfectly and were a deep blue.

“We have the track all to ourselves for the next hour and a half, apparently they’ve been quiet today, no other bookings till later this evening,” she said, as she rolled the sleeves of the coveralls up until she could actually see her hands, much to Sirius’ amusement.

“What do we do?” he asked her, picking up his helmet and together they walked through the door and followed the directions to the track.

“We race around the track, but you have fun doing it,” she grinned. “It’s basically legal speeding, if you did this in a car on the road, you could lose your driving license and hurt someone,” she shrugged.

When instructed to they each climbed into a go-kart and fastened the restraints, listening to the employee’s instructions and then they set off, it took Sirius a few tries at figuring out the controls, Hermione had already done a full lap by the time he was able to get out onto the track and when they did, the race was on.

Hermione was laughing loudly and she could hear Sirius’ deep, boisterous laugh coming from her right.

As she made another lap -she stopped counting after twenty- she could’ve sworn she saw a dark cloak billow in the wind, but when she narrowed her eyes there was nothing there. She shook her head and in her distraction, Sirius drove past her laughing madly. She smirked and stepped on the accelerator, quickly catching up to him. For the next hour, she continued to see things out of the corner of her eye but she just put it down to her imagination.

They pulled up at the end of the track and climbed out of the go-karts, slowly they made their way through the building until they reached the changing rooms.

“Okay, getting out of the house and spending time together was a great idea,” Sirius commented with a grin, his hair messy from the wind and the helmet and his cheeks tinted pink from the wind and breeze.

“It’s about time you saw my brilliance,” she gloated and he laughed at her.

“I’ll be right back,” he said and headed into the bathroom.

Hermione chuckled and made her way over to the locker with her jacket and bag in. She opened it and bent down to pick up something that fell out. When she stood up, both her arms were grabbed and she stiffened and panic set in her as she felt the familiar tug in her stomach, consistent with apparition. She caught sight of Sirius’ horrified face before he disappeared from view and everything went fuzzy.

“HERMIONE!” Sirius yelled, but she was gone.

Fear replaced his usual joyous expression. He quickly changed out of his coverall, grabbed his jacket and Hermione’s things before running out of the building, ducking out of sight and apparating.

~000~000~000~

**12 Grimmauld Place**

Sirius slammed the door behind him, waking his mother’s portrait up and she started screeching, but he ignored her. He ran to the floo and called out Dumbledore’s address, before sticking his head in

“Hermione’s been abducted!” he yelled in a panic, before withdrawing his head without waiting for Dumbledore to respond.

“Sirius, what happened?” Remus rushed into the room, followed by Harry and The Weasleys, after hearing the noises he’d made upon his arrival home.

He was pacing back and forth and pulling at his hair.

“Hermione, she was abducted!” his voice trembled. Gasps, shouts and curses were heard.

“Do not fear, Sirius.”

Sirius rounded on Dumbledore as he stepped out of the floo, soon followed by Snape and McGonagall.

“Do not fear? DO NOT FEAR! MY DAUGHTER’S BEEN ABDUCTED!” he yelled furiously.

“We know where she is, she is safe; they won’t hurt her,” Snape drawled.

“Where is she? Who won’t fucking hurt her?” Sirius demanded.

“The Dark Lord.”

That answer was not what Sirius wanted to hear.

“We have an inside man, he has been protecting Miss. Black since the reveal,” Snape informed them. “Not only will he not allow any harm to come to her, no one would dare hurt The Blue Mage.”

“What the fuck are you talking about?”

“We have a spy in The Dark Lord’s ranks, he has been passing information to me since January, there were several attempts to abduct Miss. Black during her time at Hogwarts and at Hogsmeade weekends, our informant gave us the information in time and we were able to thwart their attempts, without her even knowing.”

“She mentioned that she thought you were following her,” George spoke, drawing attention to his far too pale face.

“Can’t get anything past her,” Snape agreed with a slight nod. “I was following her to ensure that no harm would come to her, this attempt was successful because it was a last-minute plan, they couldn’t have known you were leaving the house, they must have been tracking you and took the opportunity when it presented itself.”

“Who is this informant? How do you know he can be trusted?” Remus asked, his eyes on Sirius who was still pacing back and forth, muttering under his breath and pulling at his hair, on the verge of a breakdown. Remus had never seen him so distraught.

“I would trust him with my life, he is an Unspeakable, you have met him before.” Sirius stopped pacing. “He was at the testing.”

Sirius searched his memory.

“Rocket?”

“Comet, you Imbecile,” Snape sneered. “He’s our spy and has been for a while now, I know his true identity and I trust him with my life, you should trust him with Miss. Black’s.”

“I am not trusting a complete stranger whose identity is unknown with the protection of my daughter,” Sirius snapped.

“He’s closer to you than you think.”

Sirius clenched his fists by his side to restrain himself from punching Snape square in the face, and that’s when he felt the cold metal of his ring. His ring!

 _‘Hermione Black, where the hell are you?’_ he thought in a panic. _‘Come on, Kitten, please answer me; don’t make me ground you,’_ he begged. There was no answer.

Panic and fear like he had never felt before crashed into him and he couldn’t breathe, darkness began to swim before his eyes. His chest tightened painfully. He was having a panic attack.


	17. Chapter 17

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Page Count: 8

**Malfoy Manor – Friday 8th April 1996**

Hermione landed on her feet and she found her voice. With her eyes shut tightly, she let out an ear-piercing scream and pulled against the grip the two assailants had on her.

She heard glass shattering, thunder and lightning clashed overhead as rain started pouring. Screams of fright hit her ears, almost drowned out by the thunderstorm, as well as her own screams echoing. She felt the air around her swirl and suddenly the assailants’ grip left her body and she could move freely.

She took several deep breaths before opening her eyes.

Glass-covered the cold marble floor, windows had been blown out and the chandelier that once hung above now lay broken on the ground. Rain poured around her and thudded against the floor, thunder crashed and lightning flashed overhead. A quick scan with her eyes showed approximately fifty Death Eaters all pushed against the deep blue walls, they were flailing around trying to move, but powerful gusts of wind were swarming the room, keeping them in place.

She was panting heavily, trying to calm herself down; logically she knew that whoever had taken her wouldn’t hurt her. One, they couldn’t; she was too powerful and had the advantage. Two, they were afraid of the consequences, more so after witnessing what she could do if she was frightened, and finally, three, they obviously wanted something from her.

She continued to peruse the large room, a more accurate name would be hall. It looked to be a large ballroom, at the front was a large dark green throne and sat on it was someone Hermione never wanted to see.

Lord Voldemort.

She tried to look at him impassively, but couldn’t. She was horrified by what she saw.

His pale and wax-like face looked positively gleeful with a terrifying smile on his face, it looked even worse with the lack of a nose, instead, with two slits reminding her of a snake. His long, skeletal fingers were twined together, before pulling apart and his hands applauded, as a tinkling sound left his mouth sending shivers down her spine, even as rain still poured from seemingly nowhere.

“It is true, the Blue Mage is in our presence, what an honour,” he said, his voice carrying over the clashes of thunder. “One can never trust The Ministry and their judgement, as I’m sure you’re aware.”

Hermione didn’t speak, just glared at him.

“You will show The Dark Lord respect!”

Hermione’s eyes flickered over to the sneer that came from Bellatrix Lestrange, she was stood by the throne and had her wand pointed in Hermione’s direction.

Unfortunately for Bellatrix, she forgot about the consequences that came with threatening a Blue Mage, and Hermione’s magic was well aware of the horrific things she had done. Hermione’s magic wanted her to be punished.

A powerful bolt of lightning shot across the room hitting Bellatrix square in the chest, she gave a deafening scream as her wand clattered to the floor and her body was thrown across the room, slamming against the wall and hitting the ground.

Hermione instantly felt guilt fill her and that was enough for her to gain control and stop the thunder and lightning storm. The Death Eaters that had been pinned against the wall by the wind all slumped to the ground. One got to his feet and moved over to Bellatrix.

Hermione could vaguely see the large burn hole in her dress, the skin underneath black where she had been struck by the lightning bolt. Hermione watched as an incantation was muttered by the Death Eater.

“She is still alive, My Lord,” the nameless, faceless Death Eater spoke.

“Of course, she is,” Voldemort spoke without a care in the world and still looking at Hermione. “the Blue Mage cannot control if her magic needs to defend her or punish those that have wronged, but she does not kill, it is not in her nature,” he stated as a matter of fact. “Dear Bella made a mistake in threatening Miss. Black, as a result, her magic honed in on her and she was punished.”

“Are you not going to punish the Mudblood, My Lord?” another Death Eater asked in evident confusion.

“Miss. Black is a Pureblood,” he spoke with a hiss. “And why would I punish The Blue Mage, she is only doing what she was born to do. Such power, such potential, magnificent,” he sounded slightly awed and it made Hermione feel ill.

She wanted to get out of there; she had to get to her father. Her hand reached up to tug on her necklace but she found nothing, it was gone.

Panic filled her and her eyes darted around the room until they finally landed on the necklace. It was, rather, unfortunately, on the floor in front of Voldemort, it must’ve fallen off during her arrival.

“I wonder what else you are capable of, what I have seen so far is beyond impressive.”

Hermione found her voice; she was surprised at how calm she sounded when she knew she was anything but.

“Compliments will get you nowhere; I won’t be showing you anything that I am capable of.”

“Why not?” he asked, almost childishly with a slight pout to his mouth. It was so disturbing she felt herself having to fight back the shiver than ran down her spine.

“I know why I’m here.”

“I have been told many a thing about you, Miss. Black, one would be your intelligence. It seems you are referred to by more than one as ‘the Brightest Witch of your Age’. Such intelligence, such power, such talent, it should not be wasted. I can offer you a chance to rule the world, by my side.”

She grimaced at the thought.

“I was born to protect, not to rule.”

“Are the two not the same?”

“No, when you rule, you punish, you frighten and you lord yourself over others, making them bow down to you. When you protect, you get nothing in return, the only payment you need is knowing that you saved someone’s life and that they will be fine. Most of the time, people don’t even know you’re the reason they’re safe.”

“So why not rule, they may fear you, but you will reward them for their loyalty with protection.”

“That’s not the way it works. You shouldn’t have to sell your soul for protection. I will not join you or your cause. You are not my mate, and for that, I cannot be by your side, as well as the fact that everything you do goes against my responsibility to protect the innocent.”

“So you will fight against me?”

“No,” she replied without thought. “As much as I love Harry and I agree with the Order, I cannot fight for them either. I must stay neutral in this war, there are consequences involved for The Blue Mage actively choosing a side and they are unknown, I am not willing to pay the price. I will stay neutral. Now, I must be getting back to my father, I imagine you have just brought down the wrath of the House of Black on you for abducting me, not a smart thing to do,” she chided.

She lifted up her arm and willed for the air around her to bring her necklace to her. The necklace that was in front of Voldemort slowly lifted off the ground and it floated over to her. She gripped it in her hand and saw the clasp was broken. She could only contact Sirius if she was wearing it and it was undamaged.

She sighed and tucked the necklace into her pocket.

From the corner of her eye, she noticed five Death Eaters surrounding her, slowly making their way towards her and she rolled her eyes.

She looked at the water that had flooded the ballroom and slowly she lifted her hands up from her sides. As she did, the water in the room began sloshing about and it lifted off the ground and like a tidal wave, it moved over to her and swirled around her, almost like a tornado made of water.

She heard gasps and she could only just make out the figures of the Death Eaters through the water barrier she had created around herself. She then willed the water to protect her, and it did. The water shot out in five different directions, heading straight for the Death Eaters that had been approaching her. The jet of water slammed into them with such a force they were thrown across the room, landing on the floor and sliding across it until their backs hit the walls behind them.

Voldemort was now on his feet and looking positively impressed.

“Magnificent, just magnificent,” he spoke aloud.

Hermione turned on her heel and headed for the only exit in the room, two large wooden doors, similar to the great hall at Hogwarts. They opened for her and she stepped through them, walking down a corridor filled with portraits that whispered as she walked past, but she ignored them and continued her fast pace, not wanting to give the Death Eaters time to catch up to her.

She left the corridor and ended up in a large room with dark walls and flooring, and a total of four corridors. She sighed, which way should she go?

“Hermione?”

She quickly turned around and came face to face with Malfoy. She sighed in relief.

“Bloody hell, don’t do that to me, do you have any idea how on edge my magic is right now?” It didn’t take a genius to figure out where she was, once she saw him she knew she was at Malfoy Manor.

“Sorry,” he said shrugging. “What are you doing here?” he asked her confused.

“ _He_ had me abducted.”

Malfoy paled immediately. “He’s here?” he whispered fearfully.

“Yes, he is and he asked me to join him, of course, I turned him down. Bellatrix will need healing, she threatened me and my magic punished her, a few other Death Eaters are likely injured too, now if you don’t mind, I want to get home, which way?”

He looked around him, his eyes scanning the corridors.

“This way,” he led her down the second corridor, then another two, followed by taking two lefts and a right and finally another corridor, bringing them out into a large entrance hall, with light walls and flooring, a grand staircase behind her and a large crystal chandelier above.

“Bloody mazes,” Hermione muttered under her breath.

“Go through those doors, it will take you to the gardens. If you follow the gravelled path for ten minutes, you’ll be free of the wards.”

“Thanks, I’ll guess I’ll see you at school, if I were you I’d stay out of sight.” She headed for the doors, which once more magically opened for her as her approach neared.

“By the way,” she turned around to see him looking at her expectantly. “A little excessive, don’t you think?” She gestured around her, indicating that she was talking about the entire manor, before she left out the door, leaving behind a chuckling Malfoy in the background.

~000~000~000~

**12 Grimmauld Place**

Hermione made her way up the steps of the house before opening the door and stepping inside. She was expecting a little noise, but not shouting and yells. She closed the door and quickly made her towards the noise, entering the room everyone was stood in.

Remus and Snape looked to be arguing, Dumbledore and McGonagall were whispering to each other. Harry, Fred and George were arguing with Ron and Ginny, Mr. and Mrs. Weasley watched quietly from a corner in the room as they hugged each other and Sirius was practically doubled over on the floor, gripping at his hair.

She quickly rushed forward, straight past everyone who didn’t notice her arrival and she kneeled down in front of him. She took his head in her hands and forced him to look at her.

“I’m okay, they didn’t hurt me, I escaped,” she said softly.

His eyes that had been unfocused suddenly zeroed in on her and then they widened before he grabbed her and pulled her to him tightly, muttering under his breath.

“Why the fuck didn’t you answer me?”

“My necklace fell off and when I found it the clasp had been broken, I can’t contact you if the necklace is damaged or I’m not wearing it. I got out of there as quickly as I could, though I injured a few Death Eaters in the process.”

“That’s my girl,” he said proudly, his fear and panic retreating now that he knew she was safe and she was home. “By the way, you’re grounded.”

“What? Why?”

“Because I said so.”

She grumbled and he chuckled at her.

They pulled away from each other and they stood, Sirius looked far calmer now and watched those around him in confusion, he hadn’t noticed all the sound in his panicked state.

Hermione walked over to Remus and touched his shoulder. He whipped around, ready to engage another in a battle of words, but when he saw it was her and she was uninjured, he sighed in relief. He hugged her tightly, ignoring Snape, who walked back over to Dumbledore and McGonagall with a smug smirk on her face.

“What took you so long?”

She shrugged. “You know me, I don’t like to leave things unfinished.” He chuckled at her, he pulled away and walked over to Sirius, clapping him on the shoulder in comfort and Hermione walked over to the arguing teens.

She put her hands one of Fred’s and George’s shoulders. The immediately stopped arguing and turned their heads. They practically pounced on her, pulling her to them and trapping her between them immediately, hugging her tightly and giving Mrs. Weasley a run for her galleons with their ‘Momma Bear’ hug.

“You’re back,” they whispered, sounding relieved and she felt the way the tension melted from their bodies as she hugged them back.

“I am and I’m fine, I promise. I have no injuries, but I did leave a few behind.”

They chuckled. “That’s our girl,” they said proudly.

They pulled away from her, Hermione could tell Harry wanted to hug her, but she couldn’t so instead she took his hand and squeezed it comfortingly. She could tell he was upset but he seemed better with the contact she did give him. Mrs. Weasley looked at her sadly. She ignored Ron and Ginny.

“We have been waiting for your return, Miss. Black,” Dumbledore spoke, his eyes twinkling.

“Not too long I hope,” Hermione replied.

“Fortunately for us, no, not too long a wait. What did he want?”

“As we expected, for me to join him. He wanted me to rule by his side as his Queen of Darkness.” Fred and George each wrapped an arm around her protectively and pulled her into them slightly. “He didn’t seem happy with my answer.”

Dumbledore chuckled. “I imagine he wouldn’t be. You are an invaluable asset to either side.”

“I am not choosing sides, not yet at least, I can’t risk the consequences.”

“I understand, Miss. Black. I am curious, how did you escape?”

“When I arrived, my magic took over. When I screamed I shattered all the glass in the room, a thunder and lightning storm was conjured and there were approximately fifty Death Eaters, maybe more. They were flung against the walls of the room with the wind I conjured to hold them in place. Bellatrix threatened me and my magic punished her, she was struck by a lightning bolt, she’s still alive. He didn’t even seem concerned; he was more preoccupied with staring at me. When I told him I wanted to leave and he had brought the wrath of the House of Black upon himself, I noticed five Death Eaters making their way towards me. I used the water that had flooded the room to protect me. I created a barrier around myself and then used it against the Death Eaters. I simply walked out of the room and I ran into Draco Malfoy.”

“Mr. Malfoy?” Dumbledore asked surprised.

“I was lost; he found me and took me to the entrance hall. He told me how to get off the grounds.”

“And why would he do that?” Harry asked frowning.

“He’s family. He’s not a bad person, Harry, he’s just scared. He’s got Him currently living in his home, he daren’t leave his own room. He’s confined in his own home. He’s confided in me at school, he doesn’t want to follow in his father’s footsteps, he doesn’t want to be a Death Eater,” she said, her voice softening as she thought of the scenario Draco was forced to reside in.

“He’s lying,” Ron spoke coldly.

Hermione turned her attention to him.

“No, he’s not. I’ve spent a lot of time with Draco since returning from Christmas break, he’s not a bad person, he’s actually quite sweet. He only acts the way he does out of fear and expectations. He’s still a pompous arsehole, but he’s actually kind and shy.”

“You’re a traitor!” he shouted. The twins pulled their wands and held Hermione tighter.

Hermione chuckled. “Coming from you, Ronald, that’s rich.” She then removed herself from the twin’s hold and walked over to Sirius. She removed her necklace and handed it to him.

“It’ll need repairing.”

“I’ll get right on it, Kitten.” 

She kissed his cheek and then left the room. The twins gave a glare to Ron and left the room too, following after her.

“I told you he would let no harm come to her,” Snape broke the silence with his smug tone.

“It seems he didn’t get the chance to protect her, what with him being stuck to a wall for the majority of the time,” Sirius snapped, before he stormed out of the room, being sure to slam every door possible in the process.

“Children,” McGonagall tutted with a shake of her head.

~000~000~000~

Snape left Grimmauld and apparated to the cabin. He quickly made his way through the wards and into the cabin. It was obvious the occupant hadn’t been there long themselves, the fire seemed to have been lit moments before, the cabin not yet filled with warmth but soon would be.

“How did it go?” Snape asked, picking up the tumbler on the table and sitting down. He noticed there were three and not two.

“She was quite remarkable, never once showed fear, struck down that crazy cow, Bellatrix, without even lifting a finger. Shattered all the glass in the room, the chandelier found a new home on the floor and the idiot followers found a new home stuck against the wall, myself included.”

“She mentioned that.” Snape nodded.

“It was something else entirely; I’ve never felt something so powerful, not even from The Dark Lord himself.”

Snape looked up as another cloaked figure entered the cabin. He wore the same robes as Agent Comet, his voice slightly deeper and he was taller.

He picked up the final tumbler and sat down. “Severus,” he greeted.

“Agent Jugulae,” Severus returned the greeting with a slight nod.

“As I was saying, it was the strangest sensation I have ever felt. I could move my arms, but the rest of my body was unresponsive. Whenever I attempted to move away from the wall, I was pushed further into it, I’ll likely have some bruises to show for it.”

“Proud?” Comet asked amused.

“Without a doubt,” Jugulae nodded.

“Moving on,” Snape drawled. “What are his next plans?”

“We are unsure at the moment. He is interested in her, more than ever; he wants her by his side as his Queen,” Comet answered.

“I suspect Miss, Black would have something to say about that.”

The two agents chuckled. “She did,” they confirmed.

“As we were saying, he will stop at nothing to get her.”

“That is troublesome,” Snape spoke thoughtfully.

“We’ll continue to observe him; we’ll try and wheedle information out of him for now,” Jugulae spoke.

“You don’t have long, school is back in session in less than a week and before we know it, it’ll be summer and she’ll be a target once again and vulnerable to attack.”

“We’ll get on it immediately,” Comet spoke. 


	18. Chapter 18

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Page Count: 9

**Hogwarts - Tuesday 16th April 1996**

Hermione had barely been back at school a week and she was stressed. Her OWLs were less than two months away, her research for the D.A. was colliding with her study schedule, D.A. meetings had increased since it was almost the end of the year and Umbridge and her Inquisitional Squad became more relentless in their mission to catch them in the act of breaking school rules, meaning their every move was being scrutinized and they were being followed.

They were currently in another D.A. meeting. Whilst the others perfected their Tripping Jinxes and shields, Hermione and the twins were in the corner of the room, practising casting their Patronus. They had gone from a silver glow to a silver-blue glow, they were on the very cusp of casting a corporeal Patronus, something was holding them back and she didn’t know what it was.

Hermione was just about to give the twins more encouragement when the wall was blasted into pieces. Stone littered the floor and a thick smoke lingered in the air, causing several people to cough. When the smoke cleared, Umbridge stepped through the hole in the wall with a shit-eating grin on her face.

“My, my, an unauthorised extra-curricular activity,” she tutted, looking around the group of students, from third through to seventh years and from all houses, but one, Slytherin. “Such disobedience must not go unpunished.”

~000~000~000~

**Monday 22nd April 1996**

Hermione couldn’t believe it, Dumbledore had been dismissed, almost arrested and that Old Toad was the new Headmistress of Hogwarts.

She was currently serving one of her detentions; she was in the great hall, on her hands and knees as she scrubbed the floor with a toothbrush just as the rest of the D.A was doing the same. Hermione looked around as Umbridge sat in Dumbledore’s high winged back chair, with a look on her face that had Hermione wanting to slip a Flatulence Potion into Umbridge’s next meal; Dobby would likely do it for her if she knitted him a new scarf.

The thought reminded her fondly of Fred and George, perhaps they’d been spending too much time together; they were starting to wear off on her. Her eyes searched the great hall for her boyfriends, but she couldn’t find them, they weren’t there.

She sighed and went back to her task of scrubbing the floor.

Not ten minutes later the great hall doors slammed opened and fireworks exploded with a deafening bang in a myriad of colours and patterns, her favourite was the large golden lion that stood tall and roared loudly. Everyone was now on their feet, clapping and watching in amazement at the show that was before them, completely forgetting about an outraged Umbridge and her detention.

Fred and George flew into the great hall on their brooms, high above the students and they showered them with confetti and glitter, before swooping down and throwing another firework in the air. From the looks of things, it was their grand finale.

The final firework burst into brilliant reds, yellows and oranges, revealing the form of a magnificent dragon. Not only was it magnificent for its incredible life-likeness, but also for the fact that it gave a loud roar and promptly chased Umbridge out of the room, leaving behind a hall of applauding and cheering students and a floor filled with Umbridge’s rules and proclamations.

Hermione couldn’t stop the burst of joyous laughter that left her.

The twins looked at each other and beamed. They had promised themselves they would set Umbridge’s hideous suit on fire, since it was Hermione’s greatest wish, and they had done that for her.

Now it was time for them to leave, they felt awful for not telling Hermione what they’d planned, but they had been dropping hints for a while now, Hermione was a smart girl, she would likely piece it together.

The twins flew out of the great hall, throwing a few Wildfire Whiz-Bangs to create enough noise to gain the attention of all the students on every floor of the castle.

The twins led everyone out to the entrance courtyard where the entire school gathered in excitement and laughter, as they told jokes, now back on the ground, their brooms hidden behind a suit of armour by the nearest alcove.

The laughter suddenly died down at the appearance of a furious Umbridge, her entire face a bright red, her hideous pink suit was charred at the ends and smoke was coming off it, even as Filch hurried behind her, fanning away the smoke.

"You two are about to learn what happens to wrong-doers in my school!" Umbridge shrieked.

"You know what? I don't think we are," Fred spoke with a smirk. "George, I think we've outgrown full-time education."

"Yeah, I've been feeling that way myself," George said, sharing a knowing look with his twin.

"Time to test our talents in the real world, don't you reckon?" asked Fred.

"Definitely," agreed George.

"Accio brooms!" the twins called, summoning their brooms, mounting them and kicking off the ground, flying high above the large gathered crowd.

"We won't be seeing you," Fred spoke confidently.

"Yeah, don't bother to keep in touch," George said with a laugh.

The twins looked around at the crowd of students in the entrance courtyard.

"If anyone fancies buying a Portable Swamp, as demonstrated upstairs, come to number ninety-three, Diagon Alley, Weasley's Wizard Wheezes!" Fred yelled.

"Special discounts to Hogwarts students who swear they're going to use our products to get rid of this old bat!" George shouted whilst gesturing to Umbridge.

"Give her hell from us, Peeves!" Fred shouted and Peeves who was also present, grinned wickedly, swept off his hat and bowed deeply.

The twins locked eyes with Hermione and that’s when she realised she wouldn’t see them for two months. After seeing them every day, spending hours of time together, laughing, studying, just lounging around in silence, holding her, they wouldn’t be with her.

The realisation hit her like a tonne of bricks. She should’ve told them months ago, but she was afraid of the words, of what they meant. But she had to tell them, who knew when she would next get the chance?

Her eyes softened and with her eyes locked on theirs, she pulled her wand from her pocket and she muttered a quick spell.

“Flagrate,” she whispered and with her wand, she wrote three words that would forever change her relationship with the twins, either for the worst, or the better.

When she dropped her wand, the fire flamed to life, leaving being the words, ‘I Love You’ flickering in the slight breeze.

She refused to break her gaze with them, it was obvious they were shocked by what she’d done. And suddenly, it was like something had clicked between the two school prankster dropouts.

They tore their gaze away from hers and turned to look at each other. Hermione looked on fearfully as they shared a nod and before she knew it, they had pulled their wands.

They gave a shout of, “Expecto Patronum!”

It was as if everything happened in slow motion. A silver-blue fox shot out of the tip of Fred’s wand, running around in the air, quickly followed by George’s identical fox.

Hermione gasped in shock and almost stumbled back, but caught herself in time.

The two foxes moved over to her, floating in front of her face. She stared mesmerised as they opened their mouths and the twins’ voices spoke clearly.

“We love you!”

Hermione’s eyes watered and before she knew it, tears were falling down her face. “We’ll write to you and we’ll see you in two month’s time, keep up the pranks for us?”

She laughed and looked up at the twins, she nodded as she wiped away her tears.

Even from the distance between them, she could see the happiness in them; it practically rolled off them in waves.

She brought her hand up to her mouth, quickly kissing her fingertips and pressing it against her heart, Fred and George repeated her actions and with a final nod and smile, they turned in the air and flew over the grounds of Hogwarts and over the front gates.

Harry found his way over to her as the crowd was nowhere near done celebrating, even as Umbridge gave orders for everyone to return to their common rooms.

Without thought Hermione grabbed him and pulled him to her, hugging him tightly. Harry froze still, completely unsure of what his response should be.

She was touching him willingly!

When Hermione squeezed him tighter, carefully he brought his arms up and wrapped them around her, hugging her back.

“Did you know?”

“No.”

“Why are you crying?” he asked her softly.

“I love them,” she replied.

“Really?” he replied sarcastically, she ignored it.

“They love me.”

“Do they?” Once more, his reply was sarcastic.

“We love each other,” she whispered, almost disbelievingly.

“You don’t say,” he chuckled, she pinched his side and he winced. “Any idiot could see that you loved them, and them you. It was written as clear as day in your actions, your behaviour, not to mention, the way you can’t seem to take your eyes off each other if you’re in the same room, you gravitate towards each other.”

“Really?” she asked.

“Really,” he promised and he decided to change the subject. “So, their Patronuses are foxes, that’s interesting,” he mused. 

Hermione pulled away from the hug.

“Yes, it is,” she frowned. She turned and made her way back to the Gryffindor common room, heading up to her bedroom.

“Expecto Patronum,” she said quietly, but clearly.

As soon as the words left her mouth her Patronus was brought to life, running around the room.

Her beautiful silver-blue fox, identical in every way to Fred’s and George’s.

~000~000~000~

**Wednesday 15th May 1996**

She was sat in the great hall with the rest of the D.A. sitting her detention, the detentions they’d all been attending for three weeks. This was the first where they were sat at single desks, a piece of parchment in front of them with a quill; it had a dark raven feather and the black stem sat in their hands. Hermione knew what it was as soon as she saw it; the look on Harry’s face didn’t go unnoticed either.

She was looking around the great hall, flinching every so often as she saw a third year crying, a fourth year sniffling and wiping at their eyes, a fifth year whimpering, a sixth year wincing and a seventh year cursing both Merlin and Morgana.

She could feel her magic building within her, Umbridge had to be punished, she was powerless to stop it. Her eyes screwed shut tightly, her hands clenched into fists and she gripped at her hair in desperation. The amount of magic in her waiting to be released was unbearable.

“Miss. Granger?”

Hermione’s eyes shot open and she looked up, Umbridge was stood in front of her desk, the rest of the hall had stopped their writing to look at her. She hadn’t yet called her by her name of Black, which hadn’t gone unnoticed either.

“I see you have not yet completed your lines, you will have detention a further three times a week, in addition to your previous four a week.”

No one would dream of what happened next. Hermione’s eyes darkened considerably and she stood up quickly, the air around her thickening and her chair went flying across the room, smashing against the stone wall and shattering into pieces, wood splinters going in every direction, but they didn’t hit a single person, before they could hit any of her fellow D.A. members, they stopped and floated in front of them, bobbing and swaying gently.

The anger was building and building and building and she remembered everything Umbridge had done since September. Every first year that had come to her in a fit of hysterics. Every second and third year she had found crying. Every fourth and fifth year she had seen fighting back tears. Every sixth year she had found wincing. And every seventh year she had seen walking the halls looking exhausted. Most of the time, with blood dripping from their redraw hand.

It snapped; her magic wanted her punished. Umbridge gave a deafening shriek as she was thrown backwards and away from Hermione without any indication, no incantation spoken and no wand waved. Her body slammed into the high wing back chair that didn’t belong to her and it tipped backwards, hitting the floor with a bang.

The air around Hermione was swirling with magic and she breathed heavily, trying to rein it in.

The entire hall was silent, not knowing what their reactions should be to what had just happened. Glee? Shock? Amazement? Respect?

Umbridge slowly got to her feet, her hair bow now at on odd angle, her suit jacket out of place, her skirt wrinkled and she was missing a shoe.

“You are EXPELLED!”

The entire hall gasped and stared in shock, Harry’s eyes locked on her and he waited for her reaction.

Her eyes were still dark, but her expression calm, bored even.

“Very well,” she spoke, causing everyone in the room to either gasp or choke. That was certainly not the reaction that had been expecting from her. “I can always take my OWLs at the Ministry, practical study is more ideal for me anyway, I’ve learned more from Harry in a week than I did from you in your pitiful eight months here, you won’t be here for much longer, that I can guarantee.” She turned and walked out of the hall before she stepped through the doors she heard Umbridge speak.

“I am the Undersecretary to the Minister himself, I have an influence, he will do as I wish,” Umbridge spoke smugly.

Hermione turned around.

“Yes, but not only am I a Black, I am the Blue Mage, don’t you forget that. Fudge will grant me anything I wish in fear of disrespecting me; don’t expect to be the Undersecretary for long, it will be on public record of how you treated not only me, but the rest of the students here and the public will want retribution. Dumbledore it the greatest Headmaster Hogwarts has seen and he will return.”

Hermione turned and walked out of the room, just as she heard loud shrieks of pain. She turned her head back to see Umbridge on the floor, doubled over on herself and clutching her stomach desperately.

“You forgot there are consequences for disrespecting and threatening The Blue Mage.” Since knowing her magic could and would punish those that it deemed necessary, for the first time, she didn’t feel guilty for the pain Umbridge was feeling.

She made her way through the halls, to the Gryffindor common room and up to her room. She waved her wand and had all of her belongings pack themselves away as she sat down and wrote a letter to Harry.

With her shrunken down trunk in hand, she headed back down to the common room, left the letter on the table with it charmed so only Harry could open it and she left without a second glance.

She made her way through the halls, the news had obviously spread quickly as students applauded and offered her encouragement and compliments as she walked past them, a few causing her to laugh. Even a few of the Slytherins shot her proud smirks, an arched eyebrow or in the case of Draco, a bow. She outright laughed and he grinned at her reaction.

As she reached the Hogwarts’ gates they opened for her magically, she stepped through and walked further away, when she was out of the protection of the wards, she turned to look at the castle and then with her wand in hand, she turned on her heel.

~000~000~000~

**12 Grimmauld Place**

Hermione entered Grimmauld Place and it was quiet, almost too quiet, that was until she heard breathless laughter coming from Sirius’ study. She slowly walked down the hallway and entered the study.

Sirius, Remus and surprisingly, Fred and George were lounging on the couches, fire whiskey flowing and laughing loudly.

“What’s going on here?” She drew their attention and they stared in shock at seeing her, doing a double-take.

Sirius and Remus had their wands trained on her in seconds. _‘Security questions,’_ she realised.

 _‘It’s me, when I have a nightmare you come and stay with me as Padfoot, when I signed the adoption papers, you said it was the greatest Christmas gift I could ever give you,’_ she thought whilst gripping at her necklace, Sirius’ wand dropped immediately and he sighed before rushing over to her, Remus dropped his wand when he saw his best friend’s actions.

“What are you doing here?” Sirius asked her, pulling away from the hug. The others were stood, all waiting for her answer as she quickly hugged them in greeting.

“I was expelled,” she said cheerfully.

“WHAT?”

She winced. “I was expelled. Detention, Umbridge made everyone use blood quills. My magic wanted her punished and she provoked me, I couldn’t stop it and she was thrown away from me and into Dumbledore’s chair. When she stood up she expelled me.”

“She can’t do that!” Fred yelled in her defence, it made her smile. George was stood beside her looking furious.

“I know,” she said joyfully. “She won’t be at Hogwarts much longer, I can feel it. But until Dumbledore returns, and he will return, I can do independent study and my OWLs at The Ministry, it’s not like they’ll turn down my inquiry. It’s okay though, she disrespected me and she faced the consequences. Everyone heard about what happened, even a few Slytherins congratulated me,” she said, much to their shock. “But, anyway, I’m home until at least September, and I can return to school next term,” she grinned.

They stared and she laughed, she then turned and whispered something in Sirius’ ear and he looked at her softly and he nodded.

She turned around and held her hands out for the twins, without thought they took them and she led them out of the room.

“Where are we going?” Fred asked her, still in shock from her revelation of being expelled.

“You’ll see,” she lead them to the hallway staircase, she let go of George’s hand and pulled her wand, pressing it against the bannister in a sequence, before stowing her wand and picking up George’s hand.

A door in the staircase swung open, much to their surprise. She ducked her head and walked down the stairs, pulling them behind her. As she walked, the torches in the room lit, brightening the room considerably.

“You’ve been practising,” George commented.

“I had to do something to occupy the time I’ve had since you left,” she replied.

She skipped the last three steps and jumped to the floor, the twins copied her actions and they stood in a large room. The floor carpeted with a soft grey material and the walls painted a calming blue. The entire room was empty except for a few cushions and blankets stacked and folded neatly in the middle of the room.

“We meant it,” George spoke, turning her to face them.

“We love you,” Fred said softly.

Her eyes softened, it was even better it hearing from them in person, rather than their Patronuses.

“And I meant it, I love you both,” she spoke.

Before she could blink, she was pressed against them both and they hugged her tightly between them, Fred and George both pressing soft kisses to her cheeks, neck and temples, causing her to giggle. 

“You were afraid to tell us, weren’t you?” George spoke quietly, his breath tickling her ear.

She nodded slowly.

“Why?”

She bit her lip nervously. “It changes things, I didn’t want to say the words that I fear most and have you reject me. I didn’t want you to feel obligated to stay with me. Those words make or break a relationship,” she admitted.

She felt them hug her tighter.

“We would never reject you,” Fred promised her. “We love you, we love everything about you. We love everything that you are, everything that you do and everything that you stand for.”

“You’re an amazing, intelligent, caring and talented witch, anyone would be stupid to turn you down,” George chuckled. “Why do you love us?” he asked her curiously, wishing to know how she viewed them.

“You don’t treat me any differently, you haven’t since finding out about my parents or since finding out about my being The Blue Mage. You don’t judge me; you support, challenge and encourage me. You value my opinions and beliefs, you make me laugh, you can pull me out of a bad memory with a simple touch and with a smile you can make me forget everything he did to me,” she confessed in a whisper.

The twins were beaming widely. They stayed in silence, revelling in just being together once again before Hermione broke free of their hold. Their greeting was over; it was time to find out why she had brought them there.

“What is this place? Why did you bring us here?” George asked her.

In response to their question, she pointed her wand and spoke clearly. “Expecto Patronum.”

They watched in awe as a beautiful silver-blue fox ran around the room, around the twins before coming to the ground and it stood by their sides, in-between them. Hermione frowned slightly at its actions but shook her head.

“It’s a fox,” Fred spoke shocked and he jumped when said fox nuzzled its nose against his hand.

“Just like ours,” George said in awe.

“Exactly like yours, yes. Identical in every way,” she agreed quietly.

When her fox disappeared she stepped back from the twins, giving herself space and then she took a deep breath.

“What are you doing?” they asked her curiously.

Her answer was to lean forward and before her hands touched the ground, they turned into paws.

They stared at the spot where Hermione once stood, now replaced by the mahogany coloured fox with large chocolate brown eyes shining in the flickering light of the torches.


	19. Chapter 19

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Page Count: 8

**12 Grimmauld Place - Wednesday 15th May 1996**

“I was not expecting that,” George blurted out. Fred nodded in agreement and the fox let out a bark of amusement.

“You’re an Animagus,” Fred whispered in awe and the fox nodded in response. “Is this the project you were working on with Sirius?”

The fox nodded in confirmation, before standing up on her back legs and Hermione stood once more, replacing the fox.

“That’s going to take some getting used to,” George spoke and she laughed at him.

“Why didn’t you tell us?” Fred asked.

“I’ve been working on this for a while now. I started my fourth year but I was struggling as I couldn’t centre myself or my magic. During the summer I told Sirius what I was working on and he agreed to help me, seeing as he’s been an Animagus for years he’s got insider knowledge. I finally completed my transformation during the Christmas break. Those books you kept catching me with, they were on Animagi. I’m an illegal Animagus; I’ll be required to register with The Ministry if anyone were to find out. It’s best for my safety if I remain unknown.”

“Does Harry know that you’re an Animagus? Are you going to teach him?” George quizzed.

“No, he doesn’t know, and no, he’s not going to learn to become an Animagus. It would give him a great advantage but Harry’s life is stressful enough without throwing something else onto his plate. Besides, he doesn’t have the patience to train. I did talk to Sirius though, he said that he would help me teach you. I had to wait until you could cast a corporeal Patronus first and now you can. So, do you want to become illegal Animagi?”

The answering grins on their faces were all the response she needed.

“It won’t be easy, there are many components involved.”

“We’re ready for it,” George nodded.

“Very well, we’ll begin your training as soon as you wish, first is theoretical, you have to understand the process before you start the physical training and that alone can take weeks, if not months. This isn’t a quick process; it’ll take you at least six to twelve months and that’s if you stick to the training regime and complete all the meditation, without falling back into bad habits or forgetting to complete the meditation during the day. If that happens, you have to start again.”

“We’ll do it,” Fred shrugged.

“Okay then, you can’t tell anyone, we can’t risk it getting out what you’re doing; you’ll get arrested.” They both nodded.

“When can we start?” George clapped his hands together whilst grinning.

“Whenever you would like to.”

“Tomorrow?” they both replied and she laughed at them.

“You know, I’m curious,” she spoke. “Why are you here?” she asked with a raised eyebrow.

“We kinda live here,” George shrugged.

Hermione stared at them.

“I’m sorry, what was that?” she asked dumbly and they chuckled at her.

“We live here,” Fred repeated. “Mum wasn’t happy that we left school, really, really not happy, so we came to the only place we could think of, here. We’ve been here since, we tried to leave a few days ago but Sirius wouldn’t let us. He told us we could move in permanently, so we have. We’ve received two howlers a day from Mum so far.”

She continued to stare at them.

~000~000~000~

Later that night, Grimmauld was quiet as everyone slept soundly, everyone except Hermione.

She woke screaming, tears pouring down her face and panting with the need to breathe. She gripped her necklace and Sirius responded instantly.

She sat up in bed and wiped her tears away, and when the door was flung open she was expecting to see Sirius, instead she saw two terrified and worried redheads.

“Bloody hell, Love,” George cursed and they both rushed forwards, climbing on her bed and hugging her between them.

She immediately felt calmness sink into her, chasing away her terror and exhaustion.

“We knew you had nightmares, but we didn’t know they were this bad,” Fred said quietly, obviously horrified by the screams he’d heard filling the house. “Do you want to talk about it?”

“No,” she sniffled.

“That’s okay, we’ll just stay like this until you fall asleep,” George said softly.

They laid down, Hermione with her head on George’s chest and Fred with his chest to her back as he wrapped her up in his arms. Five minutes later Hermione had fallen asleep and the twins followed not long after.

Unknown to them, Sirius had been stood in the doorway watching them, the others completely unaware of his presence.

He watched them for a little while longer, his mouth quirking at the corners before he nodded to himself and left the trio to sleep. He happily headed to his own room knowing that Hermione was in good hands with the twin pranksters.

~000~000~000~

**Ministry of Magic – Friday 24th May 1996**

It had been a week since Hermione had been expelled from Hogwarts, she had held off on informing the Ministry of what had happened, wanting to give Umbridge the chance to change her mind and rectify the situation. She hadn’t and so the day before Hermione had sent a letter to the Minister himself.

A meeting had been scheduled with her, so she and her father were currently sat in the Minister’s office. Fudge sat behind his large desk, shuffling in his seat and his eyes darting between Hermione and Sirius nervously.

Sirius was sat leaning back against the chair, his arms folded across his chest with a passive look on his face, Hermione sat up straight with her hands delicately clasped in her lap and her ankles crossed, just like any Pureblooded girl should.

Fudge knew that he was in bother; after all, he had appointed Umbridge as Headmistress of Hogwarts himself.

“You know why we are here, Minister,” Sirius spoke, breaking the silence and Fudge startled in his seat. “Not only has a great injustice been done against my daughter, but against the entire Hogwarts populace. That woman is using illegal methods of punishment on children, under-aged children. I have several witnesses willing to testify to that. Not only is she the worst Headmistress Hogwarts has ever seen, she punished my daughter for something that was not under her control. She is not the one at fault.”

Fudge nervously looked at Hermione.

“As you know, The Blue Mage exists to protect the innocent and right the wrongs of others. Ms. Umbridge is a cruel woman that spilt the blood of many a child in Hogwarts; I can list seventy names just off the top of my head.” She saw him pale. “As a result, my magic thought it prudent that Ms. Umbridge be punished for her transgressions, in hopes that she would learn from her mistakes. I could not control what happened, I tried to and she only continued to provoke me further. My magic acted of its own accord and she was punished as a result. It wasn’t a serious punishment, she was only thrown backwards, my magic has punished others worse; one individual was struck by lightning.” His eyes widened and his pale looking face had a bead of sweat forming on his forehead. “Ms. Umbridge later expelled me and for threatening me, she was punished once more. You are the one that appointed that incompetent, cruel woman as Headmistress. You put her in charge of the safety and protection of hundreds of children when she is the one that’s hurting them. My question to you, Minister Fudge, is how will you fix your mistake?”

Fudge’s eyes darted between the two Blacks, Sirius’ expression had darkened considerably, as had Hermione’s.

He tried to speak but stuttered. Clearing his throat, he started again.

“Miss. Black, I can only apologise for the mistreatment you and others have suffered under the hand of Secretary Umbridge,” he looked like he was going to be sick. “Come the end of the school year, she will be removed from the position of Headmistress and she will be removed from her post as Undersecretary.” Hermione felt like doing a victory dance. “You will be re-enrolled in Hogwarts and your expulsion will not go on record.”

“The other students?” Sirius asked coldly.

Fudge visibly gulped.

“I will send someone to check on the teaching standards at Hogwarts and they will report back to me. Any student that has suffered under Ms. Umbridge’s hands will be given a small stipend from Ms Umbridge’s personal vault as an apology.”

“There is no advantage in my returning to Hogwarts, I have done over a week of independent study for my OWLs, I would be on a different level to the other students. OWLs are less than two weeks away.”

Fudge nodded eagerly, in hopes of mending his ties with the Blue Mage.

“Of course, you will return to Hogwarts in September, I will arrange for you to take your OWLs here at the Ministry.”

“That is acceptable, thank you,” Hermione spoke.

“I do hope we can keep this out of the press,” Fudge spoke hopefully.

“I’m afraid not, someone has already beaten us to the punch, an article was released on Ms. Umbridge’s punishment methods this morning, from what I heard on the way here, many aren’t pleased,” Sirius smirked.

Fudge looked ready to faint.

“Well, thank you for your time Minister, I have studying to be getting on with so we’ll leave you to your devices.” Hermione and Sirius both stood and made their way to the door. “By the way, Minister Fudge.” He looked up at her. “You-Know-Who _is_ back and he’s preparing for war.”

“No, it’s impossible.”

“Are you calling The Blue Mage a liar?” Sirius asked, looking far too amused with the situation.

“No, no, of course not,” he said fearfully.

“Would you like to know how I know he’s back? I’m going to tell you anyway, it’s not because Harry or Albus Dumbledore told me, it’s because I’ve seen him with my own eyes. He had me abducted during the Easter holidays. He wished for me to join his cause, to fight by his side. I, of course, refused. You should be careful Minister Fudge, with Voldemort back, no one is safe.”

She then walked out of the room with Sirius laughing loudly as he followed after her.

~000~000~000~

**12 Grimmauld Place**

“So how did it go?” Fred asked her, as they laid in bed that night.

Since the night Hermione had returned from school, the twins had stayed in her room every night, and for some reason, she couldn’t quite explain, she hadn't had a single nightmare. For nine days she was nightmare free, she was the most rested she'd ever been.

She thought Sirius would’ve had something to say about her boyfriends sleeping in her room, but instead, he gave them secret smiles when he thought she wasn’t looking. His reaction to her relationship with the twins was interesting and she filed it away for later analysis.

“As we expected,” she replied and they chuckled. “I’m not sure who he was the most afraid of, me or Sirius.”

“Definitely you,” George spoke. “Sirius is terrifying and all, but you’re deadly both with and without a wand.”

“You didn’t see what Sirius did to Richard when he found me,” she said lightly.

“Well, at least he isn’t deadly on ice skates,” Fred spoke and she laughed.

~000~000~000~

**Friday 7th June 1996**

Hermione hadn’t been home long, she had spent the day at The Ministry completing the last of her OWLs and now every exam had been completed. Now she had to wait until August to receive her results.

She was having a quiet night in the library with a book, everyone would be returning from Hogwarts the following Sunday and she wouldn’t get any peace and quiet, so she had to take the opportunity whilst she still had it.

She was interrupted when she heard someone talking, Sirius and Remus were out gathering information and the twins had yet to return from setting up their shop, they had their opening day on Monday and so they had been spending most of their time there.

She put her book down and walked out of the library and she followed the voices, which led her to finding Kreacher by the fireplace, turning to leave the room and he stopped when he saw her.

“Who were you talking to, Kreacher?” Hermione asked him kindly.

“No one, Mistress, caller just got the wrong address.”

Hermione eyed him carefully. “Are you certain?”

“Yes, Mistress,” he spoke.

It unnerved her that he no longer called her a Mudblood or sneered at her. Since she was made a Black and her discovery of her being The Blue Mage, Kreacher had been very attentive to her.

Hermione sighed. “You don’t have to call me that if it makes you uncomfortable.”

“Kreacher will respond to Mistress the way she is supposed to be.”

“Very well,” she spoke and then she turned and left.

It was an hour and a half later when she knew something wasn’t right. Dumbledore’s phoenix Patronus arrived in front of her, Sirius and Remus, who had only returned home ten minutes prior.

“All available Order members are needed at the Ministry in the Department of Mysteries, Voldemort set a trap and a few students are in need of assistance.” The phoenix disappeared and they all stood up in shock, staring between each other.

Something hit Hermione.

“Kreacher,” Hermione called. He appeared in the room.

“Mistress,” he bowed.

“Who floo called?” she asked him with narrowed eyes. “And don’t lie to me either.”

“Potter,” he grumbled.

“Why?”

“He wanted to know where the Master was, Potter mentioned dreaming about Master being tortured by You-Know-Who.”

Hermione’s eyes widened.

“He’s walked into a trap,” she whispered.

~000~000~000~

**Department of Mysteries**

If you asked Hermione how she had gotten to the Ministry and in the Department of Mysteries no less, she wouldn’t be able to tell you. It was all a blur.

She was doing her best to protect the innocent during the battle, to keep things fair but it was difficult without getting involved.

She had saved Luna from the Cruciatus Curse and she’d saved a masked Death Eater from a very nasty Slicing Hex from an Order member. She had protected Neville from the Killing Curse and saved the life of Thoros Nott.

She hated that it was her responsibility. She could tell the Death Eaters were being a little cautious, they never sent a single spell her way, not wanting to suffer the same treatment as Bellatrix. They tended to ignore her as she ran through the different rooms, protecting everyone from getting too badly injured.

Her suspicions regarding the Death Eaters not wanting to hurt her were confirmed when she saw Dolohov shoot a spell at Kingsley, she had never seen anything like it, it was a neon purple colour. Kingsley managed to dive out of the way of it, and it headed straight for Hermione.

She saw the colour drain from Dolohov’s face and a genuine look of fear filled his features. Whatever the spell was, she knew a Shielding Charm couldn’t block it. She had to protect herself.

She willed the air around her to come to her, with a twist of her hand the air turned into a tornado, spinning around her, getting bigger and bigger. The spell was sucked into the vortex and when she was sure that it wouldn’t cause any harm, she dropped the tornado.

She noticed several injuries had occurred, the duellers obviously being distracted by her display of power. The Order members looked at her in awe, the Death Eaters complete fear.

Her attention was brought to her right when she caught the neon green flash of light.

Bellatrix had cast the Killing Curse and it was heading straight for a distracted Sirius. She panicked.

The air around her swirled, once more creating a tornado, only this time it wasn’t near her, it surrounded itself around Sirius, protecting him from the curse. Her magic wanted Bellatrix punished; she hadn’t learned her lesson. The tornado moved, revealing an uninjured and confused Sirius before his eyes landed on her furious form. Instead of the tornado disappearing like it had with Hermione, it moved over to Bellatrix in a fast blur, it crashed into her, sending her flying through the air and she collided with a shelf of prophecies, the glass balls smashing and cutting Bellatrix’s now unconscious form.

What happened next, she wasn’t sure she could tell you. She heard shouts and screams, loud bangs and clashes. She rushed in the direction of the noises which led her to the atrium. Dumbledore and Voldemort were duelling. Red and green spells colliding as Harry propped himself up on his elbows on the floor, trying shuffle back and out of the firing line. She rushed to him and supported his weight, helping him to move to safety.

She didn’t have to get involved; these two wizards, they were leaders of two different causes and were both evenly matched.

The chandelier took the brunt of the force from the magical energy crackling in the atrium, and it crashed to the ground with the glass shattering and flying in every direction. It broke apart the two colliding spells, just as several Ministry employees, photographers and Minister Fudge entered the atrium. Voldemort gave a smirk and disappeared from view.

Hermione looked to Minister Fudge; he was pale, sweating and looked to be on the verge of fainting.

"Merlin's beard...Here...Here!...In the Ministry of Magic!...Great heavens above...It doesn't seem possible...My word...How can this be?" he stuttered.

“I did tell you,” she said impassively, before turning around with Harry and walking away from the shouts of questions and the flashes of light caused by the cameras.


	20. Chapter 20

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Page Count: 9

**Hogwarts – Friday 20th December 1996**

Hermione had long since returned to Hogwarts, fully reinstated in her position as Gryffindor Prefect. Dumbledore was Headmaster again and though that brought her some comfort, she was far from settled.

Things were happening outside the protection of Hogwarts, things that were kept from Harry for fear of putting even more pressure on him. But she, as The Blue Mage, had been present at all of The Order meetings over the summer and she was privy to far more information than she would like to be. They knew that she hadn't chosen a side, but they still needed her to be present for reasons they wouldn't divulge. In a sense, she was glad to know what was happening because she could prepare herself, but also, she wished she didn't know the horrors that were currently occurring under the command of Voldemort.

Things at Hogwarts had been strange. Now that everyone knew the truth about Voldemort being back, the populace avoided her as much as they could. When her gaze caught that of another, they would immediately stiffen and pale or look away and walk in the opposite direction. They had not believed her and as a result, they were worried that they would be punished for disrespecting The Blue Mage.

Of course, Hermione rolled her eyes, if her magic wanted them punished, it would've done it. No, there were several people her magic was longing to teach a lesson to, but unfortunately, it didn't feel it was the right time. She could feel it, it was always buzzing and she was always on edge. Her magic was waiting for something, but she didn't know what.

She tried to keep to herself busy, listening to Harry when he needed to tell her about his lessons with Dumbledore and filing away information he had learned about Voldemort from Dumbledore. She ignored Ron and his disgusting displays with Lav Lav, which Harry found amusing. Well, he was disgusted but he found enjoyment in her reactions to it, once she almost threw up and accidentally caused a wind storm, sending food literally flying around the room. There was not one clean surface, wall or person without food covering them. Poor Dumbledore had gravy in his beard, Harry had a carrot in his collar and Snape somehow had asparagus up his nose. It caused many laughs and detentions, not for her though, it hadn't been intentional.

When she wasn't with Harry, completing her duties as Prefect, in classes and doing homework, or writing to the twins, she was worrying about Draco.

She had noticed a huge difference in him. He was quieter, he didn't bother with tormenting other students. Hell, Ron had walked into him the other day and he simply looked at him, turned and walked away. He didn't speak at the Slytherin table, he didn't answer questions or pay attention in class, he always had bags under his eyes and his hair was unkempt. He was falling asleep in class and getting detentions, he was getting thin due to not eating and stress, he didn't even tease her about her being The Blue Mage and he often didn't turn up to their weekly 'cousin time' sessions. And, to top it off, there was that awful incident that happened with Katie Bell at the weekend during the Hogsmeade trip.

She was very worried and she knew it was time to do something about it. She would be returning to Grimmauld for Christmas the coming Sunday and she didn't have a lot of time.

So with that thought, she cornered him that night in an abandoned classroom. When he left the great hall after dinner, she followed him and when they reached the dungeons, she used her ability to control air, to push him into an unused classroom, she stepped in behind him and the door slammed shut behind her. She didn't bother locking the door, but she did put up a Silencing Charm.

Malfoy turned around looking furious but it immediately turned to worry when he saw who it was that had pushed him.

"What the hell is going on with you?" Hermione demanded. It wasn't in her usual kind tone either, which just added to the anxiety he was feeling in being trapped in a room with her.

There was no denying it, he knew he wasn't leaving until she had her answers, in all honesty, he was surprised it had taken her three months to do something about his behaviour, he had been betting on a week.

"What do you mean?" he said defensively.

"Don't be obtuse, you're smarter than that!"

His signature smirk almost appeared on his face at hearing her compliment him, but it vanished before it could take root.

"What the hell is going on with you?" she repeated, glaring at him. "I know there’s something that’s causing you so much stress. You don't eat, you've lost weight, you don't sleep, you look a mess, you sneak around the castle at night, like to the Room of Requirement." He was surprised at her knowledge of his nightly trips to the Room of Requirement and it was evident. "Yes, I know about that, Draco, if you don't tell me what's wrong with you, I can't help you."

"There's nothing wrong."

"Don't lie to me," her voice darkened and he could feel the shift in the atmosphere in the room, causing him to shuffle on his feet. "I can't help you if you don't tell me what’s bothering you. What have you gotten yourself into?"

"I haven't gotten myself into anything," he spat bitterly. "My father has, he failed Him and now I've been punished."

He lifted his robe sleeve up to reveal the dark mark. Hermione didn't gasp or make a sound of disgust, she just stared wide-eyed before she pulled herself together and looked at him.

"Tell me everything," she said calmly.

Hermione listened for close to two hours. Draco told her everything, from his father's failure, to him being forced into taking the dark mark to his task to kill Dumbledore, or his mother's life would be taken. She didn't judge, she didn't interrupt, she listened to him as he cried and shook in fear.

"You're going home for the holidays," she stated.

"No, I'm not, I'm staying here."

"No, you're not, you're going home, pack your trunk and meet me at the Hogwarts’ gates at noon on Sunday." He stared at her. "I'm going to help you."

"You’re not choosing a side for me."

"No, I'm not choosing a side, but my magic wants Him punished even more now that I know what he's done to you, and his punishment will be given in due time," she promised and he shivered as her magic swirled in the air around them, he didn't doubt her words.

~000~000~000~

**12 Grimmauld Place – Sunday 20th December 1996**

"Bloody hell," Draco cursed as he and Hermione appeared in the middle of an empty street covered in snow.

"Side-along," she shrugged as he looked like he wanted to hex her, and she smiled cheekily knowing he couldn't without receiving pain.

"Where are we?"

"Home," she replied whilst removing a piece of parchment from her pocket and she handed it over to him. "Read it."

He looked confused but did as she asked. "The home of Sirius Black is number twelve Grimmauld, between houses eleven and thirteen." She took the parchment from him and burned it until it was ash.

"Why did you make me read th..." he trailed off when he saw two houses suddenly begin to shake before they slowly moved apart, another house appearing in the centre. She walked forward and when she reached the door she turned to look at him, he stood in shock.

"Are you coming in or standing outside in the freezing cold?" she asked amused. He nodded dumbly and walked over to her, she opened the door and gestured for him to enter first.

She looked around before stepping inside and closing the door. The warmth of the house immediately hit her, as did the sound of laughter and terrible out of tune singing, a song she didn't recognise but she knew the voice well; there was only one person that could incorporate the word ‘Snivellus’ into a song without issue.

"Welcome to The Order of the Phoenix's Headquarters," she spoke with a smile.

He rounded on her, spinning around so fast it was a wonder he didn’t fall over.

"Are you insane? I can't be seen here, I'll be killed!"

"No one knows you're here. The house is under the Fidelius, Voldemort thinks you're at school to complete your task and no one will harm you if I order them not to. I brought you here for a reason. You may think that you don't belong here, but you do. This is where you belong, where your family is. You have just as much right to be here than anyone else. We'll inform The Order of your situation at the next meeting tonight and a discussion will be had to determine the best course of action. Now, follow me and don't make any smart arse comments."

He gawked at her. She smoothed down her jumper and then squared her shoulders, preparing for battle, before walking down the corridor and into a large room, filled with far too many redheads for Draco's liking.

When they entered the room, everyone turned to look at them, a smile on their faces, that was until they noticed Draco standing beside her and they dropped, well, except for Fred’s and George's. Those present included, Bill and Charlie, Ginny and Ron, Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, Harry and Remus, Sirius and Tonks and finally the twins.

The twins rushed over to her and crushed her between them, hugging her tightly as they peppered kisses to her face and she laughed at them.

"I missed you," she whispered softly.

"Well, there's two of us," George started.

"We missed you doubly," Fred finished. She laughed at them before they lowered their head and each stole a quick kiss from her, grinning widely.

They were brought out of their greeting when someone spoke.

"What is he doing here?" Ron sneered at Draco; the others had arrived home the night before taking the Hogwarts Express, whereas Hermione had stayed behind for a further night since she had an apparition licence.

"He's here for Christmas," Hermione said lightly.

"He doesn't belong here, he's a Death Eater!"

A dark look took over Hermione's face and to everyone's surprise, Sirius walked over to Hermione and Draco and he stood on Draco's left side, where Hermione stood on his right.

"He has the blood of House of Black in him, he has just as much right to be here as you do, more even, if you don't like it, you know where the door is. I don't care whether you stay or leave, I've never particularly liked you anyway," he spoke calmly, his dark eyes boring into Ron's challengingly.

Everyone stared at him with their mouths hanging open.

The twins shared a snigger. Sirius turned to a pale looking Draco.

"Don't worry, Kid, we won't let anything happen to you, you're welcome here any time and make yourself at home. It's a bit of a dump though," he clapped him on the shoulder and turned to Hermione.

_'I assume you've brought him here for a reason, how did he get access?'_

_'Dumbledore gave me the parchment to give to him. He knows that I wish to speak to The Order tonight about Draco's situation.'_

_'Situation?'_

_'It's bad, Sirius, very bad.'_

Everyone watched as they had a silent conversation until Sirius nodded, signalling the end of it.

"As I said, Kid, make yourself at home, and watch out for Kreacher, he's a grouchy bastard. Ow!" He rubbed his arm where Hermione had hit him and he scowled at her.

"Don't be a baby, I could've used magic."

~000~000~000~

Later that night the Order meeting was drawing to an end.

"Before we all head home for the night, Miss. Black, you wanted to discuss something with us," Dumbledore spoke, his eyes twinkling knowingly.

Everyone turned to look at her curiously.

Those present included, Dumbledore, McGonagall and Snape, all The Weasley's bar Ron, Percy -for obvious reasons- and Ginny, Remus, Sirius, Tonks, Kingsley and Moody.

"Yes, I'll be right back," she spoke, before standing and walking out of the kitchen and into the living room, taking a reluctant Draco's hand and dragging him behind her and into the room.

The reactions were mixed; some looked curious, others shocked, some confused and others furious, and then there was Fred and George who laughed at the look on Draco's face.

"Don't!" Hermione warned coolly, as she knew what was about to leave Moody's mouth. He seemed taken aback by her tone and the twins shared a look of pride. "If any of you raise your wand to him, I will not be responsible for the actions of my magic, he is under my protection whilst in this house," she let her words sink in. "Draco, the floor’s all yours." She moved slightly away from him so that the attention would be on him and not her.

He took a deep breath and slowly lifted the sleeve of his shirt, revealing the dark mark.

The response she had been waiting for broke out, gasps and several shouts of spells. She willed the air around her to protect Draco and it did, much like it had her and Sirius during the battle at the Department of Mysteries. A tornado whirled around him until the spells had lost momentum and vanished, the tornado leaving with them.

Everyone stared in disbelief and Draco looked at her in awe.

"Don't test my patience," her voice darkened.

"She's a Black," Sirius said proudly, breaking the silence.

"Draco, tell them what you told me," she encouraged him.

He closed his eyes and gritted his teeth.

"My father failed his mission from Him, for his failure and for being captured I was punished. I was forced into taking the dark mark. I never wanted to be a Death Eater, I was raised by one. He’s given me a mission; I must kill Professor Dumbledore by the end of my sixth year and fix the vanishing cabinet in the Room of Hidden Things, so that he can have a safe passage for his followers to allow him to take control of the school. If I fail, I will be killed, as will my mother." They stared at him.

"You're the one that cursed Katie," George spoke, his eyes cold and so different to his usual warm and mischief expression.

"That was an accident," Draco muttered and looked down at the floor. "I couldn't go through with it, so instead I used a necklace that would cause pain, not kill. Bell was supposed to deliver the package, instead, she ignored the warnings of the danger the package contained and she opened it. It's as much her fault as it is mine. If she had followed the orders given to her she would've been fine."

"We are aware of your mission, Mr. Malfoy," Dumbledore spoke; everyone's eyes snapped to him in shock as his twinkled knowingly, that's when Draco noticed Snape.

"You're here," he said dumbly.

"Obviously," he drawled in reply and rolling his eyes.

"But you're supposed to be at the manor."

"That is my next destination."

"But you're working for Him."

"Severus has been a spy for the Order for many years," Dumbledore informed him.

"But, he's a spy for Him!"

"I assure you, Mr. Malfoy, Severus is a valued member of the Order."

Sirius snorted but otherwise didn't comment.

"Now, we best discuss your situation, please take a seat," he gestured to the only empty seat in the room.

~000~000~000~

**Saturday 4th January 1997**

It was the night before Hermione would be returning to Hogwarts. She had loved Christmas this year. Everyone seemed to get along quite well, once Draco's true loyalties had been revealed to the Order, all the Weasleys -bar Ron and Ginny- had warmed to him, even involving him in many of their traditions, including the Weasley jumpers, much to Ron's disgust.

Bill and Charlie teased him as older brothers do, Fred and George pranked him as usual, though it was less cruel, Mrs. Weasley mothered him when she could and Mr. Weasley often could be found offering fatherly advice to Draco before dinner. Harry had been shocked yet he didn't interact with him, Hermione spent time with him in the library, Sirius the study and Ron shut himself away in his room, not that many cared.

All in all, Christmas had been one of the best she’d had, rivalled by the year before when Sirius adopted her.

She was currently laid in bed with the twins, they had taken to sleeping in the same room since she returned, Molly had a thing or two to say about it, but Sirius had quickly silenced her, stating it was his house, Hermione was his daughter and she and the twins were both of age, they could make their own choices, besides, he knew that nothing was amiss, Hermione would tell him if there was.

"We have something we want to show you," Fred spoke quietly, his finger running up and down her back lightly, George's doing the same on her stomach and she hummed in content.

"Where?" she muttered with her eyes closed.

"Not here, you'll need a coat."

"But I'm comfy," she grumbled, they laughed at her.

"Come on, let's go," George kissed her cheek and them moved away and off the bed, offering his hand to her.

She sighed and took it, before they all left her room and headed downstairs, taking their coats off the coat rack and slipping them on.

"Does Sirius know about this?" she asked them.

"Yes, he does and he approves," Fred assured her.

"We're flooing, but it's a surprise, so..." With a wave of his wand and a muttered incantation, a blindfold appeared, covering Hermione's eyes.

Fred took her hand and carefully led her to the floo, George covered her ears so she couldn't hear Fred speak as he threw the powder into the grate.

~000~000~000~

When she felt Fred take her hands again and tug lightly, she moved her feet, moving in the direction she was being guided in.

"Where are we going?"

"Just a second," George replied and she huffed, causing them to chuckle.

It was a couple of minutes later when they stopped her and the blindfold was removed. She blinked as her eyes accommodated to sight once again and then looked around her. She was stood in the middle of a large field, the grass short and buried underneath a heavy layer of snow, trees littered the grounds, also covered in snow.

Her eyes turned upwards and she almost gasped, in the clear night sky she could see every star, bright and beautiful, something that you couldn't do in foggy London. Her eyes then moved in front of her, landing in the not so far distance, where a quaint cottage sat with a gravel pathway and snow-covered flower beds.

It was obviously wizarding made; the sheer impossible number of windows on the cottage gave it away. Hermione thought it was pretty and rather large for a cottage and since it was wizarding made, it was likely bigger on the inside too. The white brick was overcome with grown vines and plants, blossoms and flowers would be present in the spring and summer, but for now, snow stuck to it. The large glass windows were framed by white wood, the large brown door looked old fashioned, but the same colour as the roofing. A large chimney sat on the roof of the house, but no smoke was leaving it meaning the cottage was unoccupied.

Hermione had noticed that the twins had been exceptionally quiet and she turned around to face them.

"Where are we?"

"Cornwall," they replied softly.

"And the cottage? Who does that belong to?" she raised an eyebrow.

"Us, all of us we hope." George, for once in his life looked nervous. He was pale, his eyes darting about her face and he wiped his hands on his jeans as he shuffled on his feet, Fred wasn't any better.

"I'm sorry, what was that?" she asked surprised.

Fred and George both looked at each other and then looked back to Hermione. They took a deep breath and promptly dropped to the snow-covered ground on one knee. George fished something out of his pocket.

A ring box.

"Marry us?"


	21. Chapter 21

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Page count: 8

**Saturday 4th January 1997**

_"Marry us? Marry us? Marry us?"_

The words echoed in her mind.

She felt herself sway a little before two hands reached out and grabbed hers, pulling her out of her startled state.

"Marry us?" the twins repeated, the ring box still held in George's free hand.

"But I can't." The words tumbled out of her before she could stop them.

"Why not?" Fred asked her softly, but also nervously.

She couldn't answer him. "If this is about sex then..."

"Of course it's not about sex, Hermione," George spoke. "We wouldn't marry you just so you’d have sex with us. If we wanted a relationship focused on sex, we would be dating the village broomstick." Fred couldn't help the snort at his twin’s words. "We are at war."

Fred took over. "We want to marry you because we love you. We want to spend the rest of our lives with you, whether it's a hundred years or three months. We don't know what will happen in the future, but people will die and that could be us. We want the chance to have a life with you before you are taken from us. We want to tie ourselves to you in every way imaginable before we don't have the chance to."

"I don't want to hurt you," she whispered, tears beginning to fill her eyes and they fell down her face, running over her cheek and dropping to the ground.

They both frowned and stood up.

"Why would you hurt us?" George asked confused.

Fred reached out to wipe away her tears with his thumbs.

"I love you so much that it hurts, Merlin knows that I do and in any other circumstances I would've said yes without a moment's hesitation," she took a deep breath. "I don't want to hurt you because I haven't found my mates. What if I agree to marry you, and I find my mates? I wouldn't be able to stay with you."

"We'd understand," Fred spoke. "But you have decades, centuries to find your mates. We could die long before you've found them."

"But what if I find them a month after we get married? What if I find them a week after I say yes? What if I find them on our honeymoon? I couldn't do that to you. It would kill me to know that I’d hurt you."

"Hermione, we don't care if you're afraid of hurting us. All that matters is that we’re at war and we love you. We could die before the wedding. But we want the world to know how much we love you." She stared at them.

"We understand that we just sprung this on you. We've had a while to accommodate to our decision to propose to you. So, take some time, you don't have to give us an answer right now. Just know that we'll love you no matter your decision."

~000~000~000~

**Hogwarts - Friday 17th January 1997**

It was two weeks after the twins had proposed and Hermione still didn't know what to do. She was working on autopilot. She slept, woke up, ate breakfast and went to class, she ate lunch, went to class, had dinner, did her homework and then went to sleep. Everyone had noticed a difference in her; she was moody, the slightest comment earned a glare from her and the students were definitely avoiding her, more so than they had been before the holidays.

Even Harry couldn't get through to her, he had tried to talk to her about what was bothering her, but she’d just shut down. She didn't even raise her hand in class anymore.

Before returning to school, Hermione had gone crying to Sirius about what the twins had done, and she discovered that he’d already known about their proposal plans, since the twins had asked for his permission to marry her beforehand and he was fully supportive of Hermione agreeing to marry the twins.

She had told him the same reasons to why she couldn't marry the twins and in return, Sirius had all but repeated what the twins had said. He hadn't been any help whatsoever.

She was currently sat at the Gryffindor table eating her dinner. Sounds of laughter buzzed around her but she hadn't taken notice to it, simply moving the food on her plate about with her fork. She was debating leaving and going back to the privacy of her room, where she could wallow in peace, but something stopped her.

She dropped her fork to her plate with a clatter and gasped loudly, her hand clutched at her heart, feeling as if it were being ripped in two, it breaking forever. She stood and stumbled away from the table, before collapsing to the floor, her breathing almost nonexistent.

The last thing she saw was Harry's worried face and Dumbledore's frown before she passed out.

~000~000~000~

Hermione woke up suddenly, but it wasn't Hermione. Sure, she looked like Hermione, she smelled like Hermione, she talked like Hermione, but there was one big difference, her eyes. Hermione's chocolate brown eyes were nowhere to be seen. They had been replaced by an odd ensemble of colours which made her eyes consist of orange, green, blue and silver flecks.

Without thought she sat up and climbed off the bed, not registering her surroundings. The air around her picked her up so that her hair blew out behind her, her robes billowed in the wind and she was floating five feet off the ground, moving forward and out the doors of the hospital wing.

She floated through the corridors of the school, past portraits and students that gawked and screamed, past professors that gasped and quickly made to retrieve Dumbledore.

The students all followed behind her and it wasn't long until the whole population of the school and its professors were walking behind Hermione, following her out of the caste and to the Hogwarts’ gate.

The gate opened for her and when she was out of the protective wards, the air around her swirled violently, creating a tornado around her before it suddenly vanished, as did Hermione.

Whispers and shouts broke out at her disappearance.

"Albus?" McGonagall briskly walked over to him, seeing him approaching. "What has happened?"

"I have just received word that Messrs. Fred and George Weasley were attacked whilst at their shop."

McGonagall gasped. "She knew?"

"That is why she fell unconscious," he confirmed.

~000~000~000~

**12 Grimmauld Place**

Hermione reappeared in the middle of the dark street, still floating five feet above the ground. She moved forward to Grimmauld and when she reached the door, it was flung open, but no one came running.

The house was filled with Order members rushing around, the most noise was coming from the kitchen. Hermione moved forward, following the sounds and the door closed behind her.

The closer she got, the louder the voices became. She could hear a woman crying and a man begging, she could hear arguing and yelled instructions asking for supplies and potions.

The kitchen door opened and she floated inside, entering to the scene of Mr. and Mrs. Weasley holding onto each other, Remus and Tonks going through all the potions that sat on the countertop and looking for the ones that were requested. Moody was pacing, muttering to himself whilst Kingsley stood off to the side looking to be in thought. Sirius was stood at the end of the kitchen table, the kitchen table where George lay motionless and with one side of his head covered in blood. Fred was by his side, begging someone to help him as tears fell down his face.

Sirius noticed her entrance and his eyes widened in surprise before he gave a laugh of relief.

"My brother's dying and you're laughing?" Fred yelled furiously.

Fred moved from George's side and lunged towards Sirius, who stepped out of the way as Remus made to move forward to restrain him.

"He's not going to die; she won't let him," Sirius spoke, not taking offence to Fred’s behaviour given the current situation.

That's when everyone noticed the sudden coldness in the room, the sudden charge in the atmosphere and they turned towards the source.

Many gasps and curses could be heard but Hermione's attention was on George. She tilted her head to the side and frowned unhappily.

"Hermione?" Fred breathed out, his watery eyes blurring his vision. Her eyes turned to him giving everyone a perfect view of her new eye colour and they gasped loudly in response.

She floated over to the kitchen table and slowly lowered herself down to the floor, where she leaned over so that her head was over George’s and her eyes were looking directly down at him.

"Hermione?" Fred spoke again, she looked up at him, her eyes mesmerising him.

"What's she doing?" Mrs. Weasley whispered, sounding as though she wasn’t sure she should speak in case it distracted Hermione.

"Healing him," Sirius said with a smile pulling at his mouth.

Hermione rested her hand against the left side of George's head, specifically where all the blood was flowing from. Everyone watched in awe as water slowly flowed out of her fingertips and over his injury, washing away the blood and leaving him clean, but with a gaping hole in his head where his ear had once been.

Mrs. Weasley sobbed but Hermione ignored her and the others in the room; she had to make her George better. Next fire licked at her fingertips before moving across George's face, somehow closing up the gaping hole and cleaning the wound, stopping infection from setting it.

Everyone gaped in shock.

"George," Hermione spoke, only her voice came out different. It came out like a tinkling sound, a soft musical tone that melted their hearts. "George, My Mate, it’s time to wake up."

Noises of surprise filled the room at her words. She slowly leaned down and pressed her lips to George's.

"What's she doing?" Tonks spoke quietly, not wishing to disturb the silence in the room.

"She's giving him some of her magic," Sirius spoke in awe. "She's pouring her magic into him to jump-start his magical core."

When Hermione pulled back from George, it was a wait of silence for a few minutes, before his eyes fluttered open. He blinked a few times and then his eyes widened not only when he saw Hermione looking down at him, but also when he saw the colour of her eyes.

"Your eyes," he whispered.

Everyone watched as the air around them suddenly picked up only to swirl around Hermione and the twins as it formed into a tornado until they could no longer be seen and no one could approach them. When it dropped they were gone.

"They're still here," Remus spoke, before Mrs. Weasley could start shrieking. "They're in her room, they need to talk."

"Talk about what?" Mr. Weasley asked, looking dazed by what he’d just witnessed.

"The twins are Hermione's mates, she's confirmed it," Sirius spoke. "And I've suspected it for a while now."

~000~000~000~

Up in her room, George landed safely on the bed whilst Fred and Hermione landed standing beside it.

They both stared at her.

"You saved my brother," Fred whispered.

"I wasn't going to let my mate die."

"Mate?" they both questioned, evidently shocked.

"You are my mates, I know that now," Hermione spoke softly. "And yes, I will marry you."

They stared at her before registering her words and bright smiles appeared on their faces and they laughed out loud. Fred pulled her into him, hugging her tightly as George sat up and fished around in his robe pocket, pulling out the ring box he had carried with him every day since they’d proposed.

Fred pulled Hermione onto the bed sitting her between him and George, as George opened the ring box to reveal Hermione's engagement ring, and she couldn’t help smile when she saw it.

Fred took the ring from the box and slipped it onto her left ring finger. The silver band sat three gemstones, one round sapphire and two round diamonds on either side, and they were their birthstones.

She felt her face light up and she hugged the twins tightly.

"I love you," she whispered.

"We love you," they replied. She pulled back and quickly kissed them.

"You need to rest, I gave you some of my magic to heal you," she told George, "I'll be back in a little while,” she spoke as she stood.

"Where are you going?"

"I have some business to attend to and now I have a new form of transportation, one that no wards can stop."

Before they could ask her to elaborate, the air around her picked up, a tornado swirling and disappearing and taking Hermione with it.

~000~000~000~

**Malfoy Manor**

Hermione and her tornado landed in the room she had been brought to when she’d been abducted. And just like she thought, Voldemort was sat on his throne with his Death Eaters surrounding him.

Though, upon her entrance, the crowd quickly parted like the Red Sea and Hermione floated down the pathway.

"Incredible," Voldemort murmured, not even trying to contain his interest in her. "I see you have received my message," he spoke, standing up from his throne, his wand held lightly in his hand.

"Message received and message understood," Hermione replied.

"Excellent," he clapped his hands, a scary smile coming onto his face.

"And now I am here to deliver a message of my own," her voice turned cold and the torches in the room blew out, leaving it in complete darkness. Several mutters of ‘Lumos’ could be heard and many lit wands could be seen.

"You have made a terrible mistake in threatening the lives of Fred and George Weasley and I will not stand for it. You wished to push me into joining you, but threatening my loved ones was a damaging blow towards your wishes. Fred and George were the only ones you had easy access to, so you targeted them. But I am telling you now, hurting My Mates was the biggest mistake of your life." She saw his eyes widen slightly before he composed himself. "My Mate almost died tonight and I will remember this. You wished for me to fight in the war, well you have your wish. I am no longer neutral. I am working with The Order of the Phoenix, from now until you die. And I promise you, Riddle, you will not win this war. My magic wants you punished and it will be far worse than what your little lapdog Bellatrix got."

With that, the air around her swirled, the tornado grew in size and then disappeared.

~000~000~000~

**12 Grimmauld Place**

Hermione landed back in her bedroom, where she saw Fred and George both reclined on the bed and chatting with deliriously happy smiles on their faces. They sat up at her reappearance and they noticed that her eyes were now back to her usual chocolate brown. She was Hermione again and The Blue Mage has retreated to the shadows.

"I was thinking the Easter holidays, is that too soon? Three months?" she asked them.

They grinned at her, easily understanding her meaning.

"Not soon enough in our opinion," George snorted. She looked over to him.

"How are you feeling?"

"Perfect, you wouldn't think I almost died."

"That's not funny," she scowled and Fred was in agreement.

"I'm fine. Want me to do a jig to prove it?"

"No," her scowl lifted. "I saw how you danced when Sirius got you drunk during the summer, not something I want to ever witness again." Fred burst out laughing at the look on George's face. "Let's tell the others, I have an announcement to make anyway." She took their hands and dragged them out of her room and down the stairs.

Everyone was still gathered in the kitchen, having whispered conversations, though the room fell into silence when she entered.

"Voldemort crossed a line this evening when he attacked My Mates. I will not allow this to happen again. As of today, I am working with The Order of the Phoenix. I won't be able to hurt those that are innocent and I have a responsibility to keep this war fair. So, I will protect both The Order and the Death Eaters the best I can in battle, but I assure you, I can be helpful in many ways that do not have me breaching my reason for existence." The torches in the house flickered, before burning bigger and brighter.

Everyone stared at her in awe and Sirius smiled knowingly.

"One more thing, I was thinking the Easter holidays."

"Easter holidays?" Remus spoke, his head tilted slightly in confusion.

"Yes, and blue and silver," she nodded, seeing the twins smiling from either side of her.

"Blue and silver?" Mr. Weasley frowned.

"Yes, as the colour scheme."

"The colour scheme for what, Dear?" Mrs. Weasley asked.

"For our wedding in April, of course," she answered lightly.

They chocked and spluttered and the twins sniggered. Hermione left their side and went over to Sirius, whilst the others appeared to be digesting the news that she’d delivered to them.

"You knew, didn't you?"

"Yes," he said, not bothering to look apologetic about keeping it from her.

"How long?"

"I've had my suspicions since you revealed to me that you didn't have nightmares when they're in your presence, but to be honest, it first occurred to me when you revealed you were dating all those months ago, I just didn’t have the proof."

"They're my Mates."

"They are," he agreed, they both grinned at each other.

“If you knew, why didn’t you tell me?”

“This was something you had to discover on your own. I didn’t want your decisions or feelings towards them to be influenced by anything I told you. I wanted you to know love because you felt it naturally, and not because you felt as though you were obligated to.”

“This is why you were adamant that I marry them, or at the very least stay with them, isn’t it?”

"Yes, and I’m glad you’ve finally come to your senses. You're going to make a beautiful bride"

"And you’re going to look rather dashing in your suit as you walk me down the aisle," she replied with an amused twitch to the lips at the way he grimaced.

"It'll be the only time I willingly wear a suit in my lifetime." She laughed at him. "Are you happy, Kitten?" he asked her.

She looked behind her to see the twins stood rooted on the spot as Tonks and Mrs. Weasley were asking them question after question, their hands waving about madly with scary looks on their faces, whilst the men stood back watching the twins’ predicament in amusement.

"Yes, I am, given the circumstances and the times we are in, I am happy. Are you happy?" she asked him.

"Since the day I adopted you, Kitten."


	22. Chapter 22

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Page count: 7

**12 Grimmauld Place - Sunday 19th January 1997**

Hermione had stayed at Grimmauld Place for the weekend upon the discovery of the twins being her mates. Despite the twins needing to fix the shop up after their attack, they had taken the weekend off to spend with Hermione before she returned to Hogwarts that evening. Hermione had spent the weekend with her twins, mostly in the library or her bedroom, just talking about the war and their wedding. Hermione had quickly scribbled down a few plans and she had given them to Sirius. According to Pureblood tradition, the father of the bride helped the mother of the groom to plan the wedding, though the final decisions laid with the bride and her father.

Hermione loved Mrs. Weasley but she knew that she had a tendency to make everything into a spectacle. Hermione didn’t want that, she didn’t want the attention, especially during the war. If word got out about the wedding and Voldemort learned of it, he may try to use their vulnerability to his advantage and she couldn’t allow for that to happen and the twins agreed with her wholeheartedly. Though Hermione trusted Sirius, he knew her better than she knew herself; Sirius would make sure she had the wedding she wanted.

George was finishing up the schematics for a new product in the library and Hermione and Fred were in her bedroom, currently snogging.

As they lay on their sides facing each other, one of Fred’s hands was at the base of her neck, the other supporting him on his side. Hermione had her hand in Fred’s hair, the other also supporting her.

Her hand slowly slid down his neck and over to his chest above his heart, before moving lower and dipping under his t-shirt, her fingers tickling the hard muscle of his stomach formed from years of playing as a beater for Quidditch.

He pulled back from her and his hand reached down to stop hers from continuing with their exploration.

“What are you doing?” he asked her.

“Touching you, does it bother you?”

“No, of course it doesn’t, but I don’t want to push you into something you’re not ready for,” he had a worried look on his face and hers softened in response.

She laid down on her back and pulled him so that he was looming of her.

“You’re not pushing me, Fred, I want this.” The hand that was clasping hers, she moved under her pyjama top and rested it against her stomach.

His eyes searched hers before she moved her hand away from his and rested her hands on his shoulders.

“If it all gets too much, you have to stop me. If you feel uncomfortable in any way, you need to tell me.”

“You’re not him, Fred. You’re my mate, my equal; I could never see you as him. You could never hurt me.”

“Hermione, you have to tell me, if you don’t agree then we’ll stop now.”

“Yes, I’ll tell you.”

“If?” he prompted.

“If I feel uncomfortable and want you to stop.”

He searched her eyes, deciding whether or not she was telling him the truth and when he saw that she was, he lowered his mouth to hers and his hand trailed over her stomach slowly, cautiously, softly.

She sighed into his mouth making him relax, but he still had to be careful with her. As his hands softly swept across her stomach and sides, Hermione’s slipped under his t-shirt, beginning to explore the muscles and skin of his stomach and back, she felt him shiver and he twitched under her exploration.

He hesitated when his fingers brushed against the material of her bra, Hermione understood why; he and George had always been respectful of her and their hands had never strayed anywhere but her back and stomach, but his touch didn’t hurt her. It didn’t make her feel like she was being burned. It didn’t instil fear in her.

No, it made her feel alive. It made her feel special. It made her feel loved. Hermione was resolute in her decision to see where and how far things would progress between them.

She brought one hand out from under his t-shirt and slipped it under hers to grab Fred’s hand and give him a little nudge of encouragement. He pulled away from her, his chest rising and falling and his eyes studying her. He hesitantly moved his hand and trailed it over the mound of her breasts.

Hermione let out a little puff of breath and her eyes closed shut.

“Do you want me to stop?”

“No,” she answered instantly and she opened her eyes, looking up at him.

His touch became less hesitant and more explorative, trailing over the fabric off her bra and down the valley of her breasts. She pulled him back to her and her hands continued mapping the muscles of his torso, as he cautiously kneaded her breasts.

She let out a surprising moan, and in response, Fred’s breath hitched. Hermione pulled him closer to her, her body flushed against his and with him cradled in her legs. He pulled back in shock at their new positioning but she didn’t allow him the chance to speak, pulling him back to her immediately.

She felt herself going all fuzzy. Her stomach flopped, her magic tingled, her skin burned, she felt like she was floating. Hermione could feel herself getting hot and bothered and she shifted under Fred to try and suppress it, Fred’s hips unconsciously bucked against her and she gasped at the feeling of electricity going through her, and her hips bucked in response.

Fred pulled back quickly and her eyes fluttered open, he was looking down at her worriedly.

“Hermione, I...”

“I want this Fred, I want this with you. Are you going to make me beg?”

“No, but...”

“Good,” she cut him off pulling him down to her, but he pulled back.

“If we do this, clothes stay on.” She rolled her eyes. “I mean it, Hermione; I’m not pushing you any further than that.”

“Fine,” she agreed.

“And you’ll tell...”

“Yes, I’ll tell you if I want you to stop, I promise.”

Her words seemed to placate him and he returned to his previous ministrations of kissing her, except, every so often he would rock his hips against hers and she would gasp or whimper. When it was evident that she was beginning to get frustrated he rocked his hips slowly at first to give her the opportunity to stop him, but she didn’t and he slowly increased his rhythm, though, by this point, he was barely holding onto control, particularly when she started rocking into him all on her own accord. 

He pulled back from kissing her and he noticed that her breathing had changed, it was erratic and coming out in pants, her hands were gripping his t-shirt, her eyes were screwed tightly shut and her mouth was parted slightly. His eyes dilated at the sight.

“Fred,” she breathed out. “I need... I need... something,” she begged.

“What?” he asked with a strained voice.

“I don’t know... I just need something,” her voice pleaded.

He knew what she feeling, he knew what she needed.

With that though he dipped his head to what he had learned was a weak spot for her, the hollow of her neck. He kissed and nipped, before sucking and leaving a familiar bruise behind.

Hermione gasped loudly and she bit her lip to suppress the low moan that tried to leave her. She felt something in her snap and her body shook violently, she felt like she was floating, she felt like water, like fire, she felt her magic humming in content and she could feel the elements around her, calling to her.

Seeing Hermione’s reaction was all Fred needed to find his own release and he buried his head in her neck to muffle the sounds. He held himself up on his elbows as to not crush her and he worked to get his breathing back under control, he looked down at her serene face, a small smile playing at her mouth.

Her eyes fluttered open and she saw Fred looking down at her.

“What?” she asked. His mouth twitched.

“Nothing,” he said softly.

“What did I miss?” George asked as he walked through the door. Hermione and Fred turned to look at him and he paused when he noticed their positions. A half-smirk formed.

“We could always show you,” Hermione said lightly and she laughed loudly when Fred gawked and spluttered.

~000~000~000~

“I’m not going to see you until April,” Hermione muttered tiredly from her place in between the twins. Her head rested on Fred’s chest and George nestled behind her, holding her to him.

“But then it’ll be three days until our wedding,” Fred spoke, trying to lift her spirits.

She smiled, looking at her engagement ring. “Yeah, it will.”

“You’ll see us before you know it,” George assured her. “And we’ll have the cottage all set up and habitable. Mum’s going to help decorate it for us.”

She hummed. “What’s it like?”

“That’s a surprise.” They chuckled when she huffed. “You just focus on your schoolwork, prefect duties and keeping an eye on Malfoy. You let us worry about the wedding and the war.”

“Promise me you’ll be careful, I don’t want to have to heal you again. Voldemort knowing that you are my mates can go either way. He could target you or he could leave you alone in fear of bringing The Blue Mage’s wrath to him. And remember that owls are being intercepted, if you’re going to write to me, make sure it’s charmed and in code. Or ask Sirius if you can borrow his ring for a little while so we can talk, you can’t leave the house with it though,” she said and they both nodded.

“We promise to be more careful.”

“Constant vigilance!” George exclaimed and Hermione giggled.

“I’m going to miss you.”

“There’s two of us, we’ll miss you doubly.”

~000~000~000~

**Hogwarts - Monday 20th January 1997**

Hermione was walking down to the great hall for breakfast when she was pulled into an abandoned classroom; she pulled her wand and swirled around before she relaxed at the sight of a frazzled Harry Potter.

“Where the hell have you been?” Harry demanded. “Everyone saw you leave the castle, bloody well flying, without a broom might I add, and then you disappeared along with a bloody tornado. Dumbledore wouldn’t tell me anything, only that you were safe.”

“Fred and George were attacked at the shop.”

His fury suddenly dropped and he looked at her in shock. “They’re okay, right?”

“George was the one with the severest of injuries; Fred only had a few cuts and bruises. George has lost his left ear; it was completely sliced off by a curse.” He stared at her sadly. “I healed him; my elemental powers took over and healed him.”

“You can do that?” he said surprised.

“Only with my mates.”

He looked at her confused before the metaphorical light bulb went off above his head.

“Fred and George are your mates?”

“Yes, they are. They always have been, it just took their lives being threatened for me to realise, I should’ve known; they’ve always been different.”

“You’ve found your mates?” he spoke surprised. She gave a light laugh at his shock, but clear happiness for her.

“I have. I spent the weekend with them at Grimmauld; I didn’t feel comfortable leaving them. I won’t see them until April; by the way, you’re going to need either a suit or dress robes.”

“Why?” he raised an eyebrow.

She lifted her left hand and removed the Glamour Charm, showcasing her engagement ring. He gawked at it.

“Is that an engagement ring?”

“Yes, you wanted to know why I was unlike myself when we returned to school. It was because the twins proposed, but I couldn’t say yes knowing that if I found my mates, I would hurt them when I left them, I didn’t want to risk that. I love them so much that I couldn’t bear the thought of breaking their hearts. It turns out I didn’t have to worry, I said yes immediately after healing George. We’re getting married three days into the Easter holidays.”

“How are you going to plan a wedding? I suppose you want to keep it a secret.”

She nodded. “Just until after the wedding, if Voldemort gets word then we’ll be vulnerable to attack on my wedding day.” He nodded in understanding. “When I return to school I’ll be Hermione Weasley-Black, I didn’t want to lose Sirius’ name considering what it means to me, so I’m hyphenating. Everyone will put the pieces together and by that point, it’ll be too late. As for planning the wedding, it’s Pureblood tradition that the bride’s father and the groom’s mother do it, though all final decisions lie with the bride and her father. I told Sirius what we want and he’ll make sure that we get it without Mrs. Weasley making everything into a spectacle.” He chuckled at her.

“Congratulations, Hermione, it’s good to see you so happy.” Hermione smiled at him before she looped her arm through his and they left the room, heading down to breakfast.

“Hermione, ring,” he reminded.

“Oh, thanks for reminding me,” she muttered, casting a glamour over it.

“Am I going to have to look out for you?” he asked amused.

“No, that’s my responsibility to you as a mother hen.” He laughed at her.

“Before I forget, Malfoy was looking for you, and he didn’t look too good.”

“I’ll make sure to see him later.”

~000~000~000~

Hermione was making her way to the library after finishing with dinner in the great hall, when she was suddenly pulled into an abandoned classroom. She had her wand out and facing her capture before they could blink, but she sighed in relief when she saw that it was only Draco.

“Damn it, Draco, I almost hexed you,” she scolded. “What is it with people dragging me into abandoned classrooms today?” she grumbled.

“Where the _hell_ were you?” he ran his hands through his hair and paced back and forth.

“Grimmauld, Fred and George were attacked at their shop on Friday. I had to use my elemental magic to heal George, he’s lost his left ear.” He stopped pacing and he looked at her with his usually pale skin looking sickly. “It turns out Fred and George are my mates.”

“Of course they are, it was obvious,” he muttered, before pacing again. “Mother’s been owling, He wants to know when my next attempt on Dumbledore’s life will be. They sent me a bottle of elf wine, along with poison; I don’t know how they got it through the wards. What are we going to do?”

“Easy, we stick to the plan, you focus on the cabinet and I’ll deal with the wine.”

He stopped pacing. “You’re going to kill him!” he shrieked.

Hermione snorted. “Don’t get your wand in a knot; of course I’m not going to kill him. I won’t use the poison; I’ll use something milder, just a few abdominal cramps, maybe vomiting at best. You can’t be acting like this Draco, the whole point of telling The Order is so you don’t have to deal with the stress. I visited Him after I healed George, I’m no longer neutral, I’m working with The Order now, though my role is different from yours. You are a spy, you should spend some time with Snape, have him help you to strengthen your occlumency shields, and everything is going to plan, so calm down,” she lectured. “Now, go do your homework.”

“What?” He looked at her like she had three heads.

“Homework, go do it, now!”

He continued to stare at her until she used the air around her to push him out of the door. She heard his protests of being bossed around by a “bloody witch that was half his bloody size’’ and she laughed to herself, shaking her head. It would definitely be an interesting term, of that she was sure. 


	23. Chapter 23

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Page Count: 11

**Hogwarts’ Express - Friday 9th April 1997**

Hermione was right; the last few months of school had been eventful. She was kept busy with preparing for end of year exams, helping Harry with ways to retrieve Slughorn’s true memory, keeping Draco calm and on track with not only the task, but eating meals and doing his homework and on top of that, she had to deal with the rumours that she was getting married.

She knew that she would have to tell Ron and Ginny that she and the twins were getting married and Harry had come up with an idea that they’ run past Sirius and he agreed that it was a stroke of genius.

So, during February, Hermione sat down with Ron and Ginny -much to her displeasure as she usually avoided the two Weasley siblings whenever she could- and they’d Ron and Ginny about the wedding, but seeing as Hermione didn’t trust either of them to keep the wedding a secret, she’d told them the wrong date and venue. If it did end up spreading around school and reaching the ears of Voldemort, they would be completely safe. She was getting married three days after the start of the holidays, Monday 12th April on the grounds of the cottage that the twins had bought for them.

They’d told Ginny and Ron the wedding was to take place two days before they returned to school and at a Manor in London, when in fact the address led them to an abandoned warehouse, if Voldemort did send Death Eaters, there wouldn’t be anyone they could harm for miles.

Hermione had praised Harry’s thoughtfulness and he was right to be cautious, not even a week after Hermione had told them, it was spreading around school like fiendfyre. The number of people that had come up to her asking about the wedding was ridiculous, she, of course, denied everything, stating that if she was to marry the twins, it wouldn’t bloody well be during the middle of a war. Still, people talked.

To make things worse, Slughorn had accidentally given Ronald the bottle of elf wine she had slipped a mild poison into, it wouldn’t kill, it just caused stomach cramps and vomiting. And when Katie Bell returned, Draco had completely lost his mind and Hermione had to stop Harry from cursing him with an unknown spell from that book that was always glued to him. It took her three hours to remind him that Draco was on their side and working for The Order and that he had to get used to him since he was family. He’d stormed off in a huff, returning hours later with a sheepish look on his face and a mumbled apology. She rolled her eyes and forgave him instantly.

But now, she was on the Hogwarts’ Express, heading back to London and in less than three days she would be getting married.

She was currently sat in a compartment with Harry, Ron was off somewhere and she honestly didn’t care where.

“So, you’re getting married,” Harry spoke with a small smile.

Hermione’s face lit up. “Yeah, I’m getting married.”

“How does it feel?”

“Strange, as a child I honestly never saw myself getting married, let alone at the age of eighteen,” she shook her head. “But they make me happy, they make me forget about my past, they make me forget about my parents and when I’m with them, it’s just us. There’s no war, no Voldemort, no death, no darkness, just us. They don’t treat me like everyone else. They’ve always been kind to me, they’ve already treated me as if I was special, long before we found out I was The Blue Mage. They’re my mates, my equals, they’re my future. I maybe would’ve liked to wait a little longer before getting married but we are in a war. Time is a luxury we don’t have. This time next year we could be dead and I won’t have had a chance to spend my life with the men I love. We have to take every opportunity that we have to be together.”

“I’m sorry that you’re life’s turned out this way, Hermione,” he looked down in shame.

“Oh, don’t start with the pity party, Harry,” she scolded. “Not everything is your fault. You didn’t create the monster Voldemort is. You didn’t force him into the dark arts, you didn’t force him to become a murderer. You weren’t even born for Merlin’s Sake, neither were parents. You didn’t ask to be the Chosen One. And you sure as hell didn’t make me the Blue Mage. I was born that. I would still be The Blue Mage even if I hadn’t met you. Nothing is your fault and the quicker you understand that and get rid of all this misplaced guilt, the better you’ll focus and the happier you’ll be. Now, don’t talk to me, just sit there and think about what you’ve done.” She stood and left to go to the bathroom, leaving Harry staring at the door in shock.

She made her way to the bathroom, she looked around before knocking on the door three times, before pausing and then knocking twice, followed by four knocks. She heard the door click and it opened, she slipped inside and closed the door behind her, locking the door and putting up a Silencing Charm as a precaution.

She reached out and when she felt the fabric, she gripped it and pulled, Harry’s invisibility cloak was now in her hand, revealing a disgruntled looking Draco. It had taken a lot to convince Harry to let Draco use his invisibility cloak, but he agreed in the end.

“Why do I have to stay in the toilet? It’s a seven hour train ride,” he grumbled.

Hermione shrugged. “You didn’t want to apparate with me, port keys can be tracked, I don’t trust the Knight Bus and we can’t floo, so the only option was for you to ride the train. Seeing as we told your mother that you had to stay at Hogwarts to continue working on the cabinet, you couldn’t be seen otherwise they would know something was wrong. I was not leaving you there and you’re not going to the manor, you’re coming to Grimmauld and my wedding whether you like it or not.”

He crossed his arms and pouted, though Hermione knew it was an act, he was grateful that she was including him in her life and family; she knew he would never admit it, but he’d grown close to The Weasleys, well, except Ron and Ginny of course.

“I don’t have any dress robes.”

“You don’t need them, Sirius had a tailor make all of the robes and suits. Mrs. Weasley knew your measurements because she made you a jumper for Christmas. If they don’t fit, they can be altered, we still have until Monday. I haven’t even seen my dress, I just picked one out of a catalogue and Sirius ordered it for me. I have no idea if it’s going to fit or if it’ll fit right to my frame so I don’t know what you’re complaining about. And anyway, it was your choice to sit in the toilet, you could’ve sat with Harry and I, but you refused to be in a confined space with him. Well, guess what, the twins and I will be away from Grimmauld for a week after the wedding, I won’t be there to keep you two from killing each other, so you better be nice to each other.”

“I hope Potter got the same speech.”

“He did, he also got hexed for throwing a childish tantrum.” He smirked at her. “Wipe that look off your face or you’ll be walking to London,” she glared and he gulped.

~000~000~000~

**12 Grimmauld Place**

When they arrived at the train station, there was a group of guards waiting for them. Tonks, Remus, Kingsley, Moody and Mr. Weasley. Harry, Hermione, Ginny, Ron and a still invisibility cloak clad Draco were all escorted to Grimmauld.

“Kitten,” Sirius beamed when she jumped into his arms after walking through the door. He caught her and chuckled.

“I missed you.”

“I missed you more. Those twins of yours have been doing my head in. How long till she gets here? Has the train arrived yet? I miss her!” he mocked and she laughed.

“Hey, we’re men in love,” Fred protested from behind Sirius.

He rolled his eyes and let her go and she was pulled into them, hugged between them as they gave her the usual greeting of peppering her face with kisses.

“Move out of the way,” Mrs. Weasley barged past Fred and George and she only just remembered not to grab Hermione. She held her hand out and Hermione took it. “We have a wedding in three days and the bride hasn’t even tried on her dress yet.”

Hermione sighed as she was dragged away from everyone, Hermione mouthed ‘help’ over her shoulder as she was pulled up the stairs. They just laughed at her and she scowled.

“Wait for me!” Tonks called, rushing past everyone and running up the stairs, only to trip and fall up the stairs. “I’m okay,” she groaned before running up the stairs. They heard a crash as she made her way onto the next floor. “Sorry!” she called. A smash! “I’ll pay for that!” she yelled. They burst out laughing.

“It’s good to have the house full again,” Sirius commented with a fond smile. He then noticed Draco, since everyone else had convened in the living room.

“Hey, Kid, you look like you could do with a drink, are you seventeen yet?”

“Not till June.”

“Ah, fuck it, I started drinking fire whisky when I was thirteen, come, let’s have a chat,” he clapped him on the shoulder and guided him to his study.

~000~000~000~

**Monday 12th April 1997**

It was finally the day of the wedding. Hermione had spent the night at Grimmauld and Sirius slept in her bed as Padfoot since her nightmares had returned without the presence of the twins. The twins had actually stayed at the cottage since they weren’t allowed to see her until she walked down the aisle. The rest of the Weasley men also stayed at the cottage - Charlie, Bill, Ron and Mr. Weasley, whereas Sirius, Harry and Draco had stayed at Grimmauld as her family and Mrs. Weasley and Tonks stayed to help her ready, Ginny kept to herself.

Hermione was stood in front of the mirror. She had ten minutes to accustom herself to the prospect of getting married and then she would be leaving for the cottage to get married.

She cocked her head to the side, taking in her appearance. Mrs. Weasley and Tonks had done a wonderful job, of that Hermione couldn’t deny, they’d even stuck to her wishes of minimal makeup. Her eyelids had a silver shimmer, her lips a clear gloss and a dash of mascara to make her eyelashes longer and thicker.

Her hair was left cascading down her back in soft ringlets, her hair pulled back from her face. Around her neck, she wore her necklace from Sirius and he had taken a trip to Gringotts to remove an heirloom for her. Of course, Bill had to remove all the curses on it first but when it was safe it was simple and beautiful. It had been hard for Sirius to find something blue in his vault, given that most of the stones were emeralds, but he’d found managed to find a silver chain with a blue teardrop diamond that was currently resting around her neck. She no longer had to wear the glamour on her engagement ring and it sat proudly on her ring finger.

Her dress, it was simple and she thanked Merlin it didn’t take a lot of altering. Her white dress fit to her curves before flaring out at the waist slightly and falling down to the floor. It had a sweetheart neckline with an embellished bodice; her lace sleeves fell down to her wrists and her dress was backless stopping just below her waist. Her veil matched the same lace pattern as her sleeves and a pair of silver heels completed the look.

Mrs. Weasley entered handing her the especially charmed silver roses and blue stephanotis flowers, her bouquet was completed with a blue-silver ribbon holding it together.

Mrs. Weasley and Tonks were crying before they even left for the cottage, leaving her with Harry, Sirius and Draco who all walked into the room at that moment and she was glad to see Harry and Draco tolerating each other.

“Whoa!” Harry and Draco muttered, staring at her with wide eyes.

Sirius rolled his eyes and made his way over to her, dressed in his all-black suit and crisp white shirt, perfectly tailored and the best money could buy, she scrutinized it trying to figure out how much it had cost him but she decided to drop it, she would never understand Sirius’ mind.

“You look beautiful, Kitten,” he spoke softly and she beamed at him.

“Thank you, didn’t I tell you you’d look dashing in your suit?”

He gasped, holding his hand up to his heart. “I look dashing in everything I wear.” She rolled her eyes and chuckled at him.

She then turned to Harry and Draco, Harry’s suit didn’t surprise her, but Draco’s did, he’d opted for the muggle attire rather than the dress robes. Their suits were identical to Sirius’ and she couldn’t help it when her eyebrow cocked in question.

“More expensive than the robes,” Draco shrugged. “And you’ve got to admit, I look quite good.”

She burst out laughing causing him to scowl.

“Alright, that’s enough winding up the Malfoy Heir, it’s time we got you married,” Sirius spoke.

She took his proffered arm before he removed a port key from his pocket, which he assured her was untraceable before they were whisked away.

~000~000~000~

**The Cottage**

Hermione landed and she barely had time to get her bearings before the wedding march was being played. Hermione didn’t have any bridesmaids, what with there only being Ginny and she was not letting her be a part of the wedding, and Bill’s newly revealed fiancé’ who no one had met yet, but he’d brought her to the wedding under Hermione’s orders to do so.

So instead she had Harry and Draco standing up with her. Harry walked down the aisle first, looking nervous and shifting uncomfortably, Draco strutted down the aisle as if he owned the world and she rolled her eyes at him. Now it was her turn.

“You ready, Kitten”

“Yeah, I’m ready,” she breathed out.

“Hold tight, I won’t let you fall.”

Hermione nodded and they started their ascent down the aisle as she quickly took in her surroundings.

She could see the cottage off in the background but her curiosity would have to wait until later. Her eyes landed on the lake, the midday sun was shining down and the lake sparkled and rippled with the slight breeze. The aisle was a white carpet that would prevent her heels from sticking into the grass. Chairs sat on either side of the aisle, there weren’t many people at the wedding, just the Weasleys except Percy, Harry and Draco, Sirius, Remus, Tonks, Dumbledore, Hagrid, Professors McGonagall and Snape and two people dressed in black robes that she didn’t recognise since their faces were covered. She frowned but then shook it off. An archway of blue and silver flowers had been grown, likely thanks to Professor McGonagall and underneath it stood Professor Dumbledore in silver robes.

In front of him stood Fred and George, when their eyes caught hers they stared at her, their eyes wide and mouth open in shock. She giggled and Sirius chuckled, she’d never seen them speechless before. Charlie, their best man who was also dressed in a muggle suit, leaned over and whispered something into their ears. Their mouths snapped shut before they stood taller and the biggest smile she’d ever seen grace their faces appeared.

Merlin, they were handsome. Their red hair looked brighter under the sunlight, they’d had it cut, it was slightly shorter, but still covering their ears so that George wouldn’t feel self-conscious about losing his ear, it was falling across their foreheads and as messy as ever. Their turquoise eyes were sparkling and the muggle suits they had opted for fitted them perfectly.

She couldn’t remember Sirius handing her over to the twins or his kiss to her cheek and she couldn’t remember Dumbledore starting the ceremony, as soon as her eyes locked on soon to be husbands, the world fell away and it was just them.

“Miss. Black?” she pulled her eyes away from the twins and looked at an amused Dumbledore.

“Sorry?” she spoke, causing chuckles to ring from the crowd. The twins smirked at her, their eyes alight with happiness and mischief.

“Your vows,” he instructed.

“Oh, right, of course, sorry, I got distracted.”

The crowd chuckled at her. She turned her attention back to the twins, her gaze locking with theirs.

“Fred and George, George and Fred. Most people see you as one entity, but I don’t. I see you for your similarities and I see you for your differences. You’ve let me into your world, you’ve shown me something that you’ve never allowed anyone else to see and I am honestly grateful for that. You don’t treat me as everyone else does, you’re not afraid of me, of saying something disrespectful, you don’t treat me as if I’m The Blue Mage, but instead a human being, a witch, just as I was when I was eleven years old, only now I have better hair.”

They chucked.

“I can’t even begin to tell you how much you’ve helped me, how much you’ve healed me and _are_ healing me. You look at me and you don’t see the damaged person I was, you don’t see all the things that I’ve failed at or all the things I’ve achieved, but you see me, Hermione Black, just an ordinary witch that has an unnatural obsession with knowledge.” She heard several snorts from the crowd. “You make me a better person. You make me want to be a better person. To make this world safe, to fight in a war just so that you’re safe. That day you were attacked was the worst day of my life; I’ve never felt fear such as the fear of losing you and I never want to feel that again. I cannot stand the thought of being in a world where you are not. I want for you to always be in my life, I love you more than I ever thought possible.”

She heard sniffles and tissues being passed around.

Dumbledore nodded to the twins, signalling that it was their turn to speak their vows, and Hermione prepared herself for the waterworks.

“We love you, it’s as simple as that,” Fred started. “And you’re right, we let you into our little world, how could we not? We let you in because you’re special, even before you were The Blue Mage you were an amazing person; a kind, intelligent, powerful witch. You’re the only person that can tell us apart, the only person that treats us as if we’re two separate people and we love that about you.”

“We adore the way your nose crinkles when you’re reading something you disagree with. We adore the way your eyes light up when you’ve found an answer to a problem you’re having, or the way you throw your quill across the room when you’re in a tiff. We adore the way you bite your lip to stop yourself from laughing at something you shouldn’t be laughing at, or the way you snigger behind your hand when you can’t contain it anymore. We even adore your violent tendencies, they’ve brought us a lot of amusement over the years.” She scowled at George and he winked, making her expression soften.

“You make us better, you make us stronger, you even make us smarter. When we dated during school our grades improved just by being in your presence alone and we knew we couldn’t let you go. That day we asked you to marry us, it was the most nerve-racking thing we’ve ever done.”

“And when you told us that you couldn’t marry us because you didn’t want to break our hearts in case you found your mates, well, our love for you only grew, you loved us so much that you were willing to let us go to protect us, that says a lot about a person, but we’re selfish men and we couldn’t let anyone have you. The elation we felt when you told us that we’re your mates is indescribable and now the day has finally come, the day we’ve been impatiently waiting for, the day that you become our wife,” Fred spoke with a soft smile.

“We love you, Hermione,” they both said.

Hermione’s tears were streaming down her face full force and she wasn’t the only one, the sniffles of the crowd had turned into cries and she knew the culprits without having to look, Mrs. Weasley and Tonks, though McGonagall seemed to be a little choked up too, as did her soon to be sister-in-law, Fleur.

“Well then, let’s not make these two young men wait any longer. Do you have the rings?” Dumbledore’s eye twinkled and he sounded amused. The twins nodded.

“Fred, George, do you take Hermione Black, to be your lawfully wedded and magically bound wife, for life and death?”

“We do,” they spoke without hesitation.

George took the wedding ring from Charlie, before slipping the silver band with diamonds and sapphires embedded into the medal, onto her finger in front of her engagement ring.

Hermione then turned and took the rings from Harry who winked at her. She gave him a teary smile and he chuckled.

“Hermione, do you take Fred Gideon and George Fabian Weasley, to be your lawfully wedded and magically bound husbands, for life and death?”

“I do,” she spoke, before slipping their rings onto their left ring fingers. The rings identical to hers only with a thicker band.

“I now pronounce you bonded for life, you may now kiss your bride,” Dumbledore spoke, his eyes twinkling at them.

It was George that pulled her to him first, he smiled down at her. “You look breathtaking,” he muttered, before his mouth touched hers, their lips moving against each other.

When she pulled away she was crying again and he wiped away her tears, before giving her a chaste kiss and then moving for Fred to take his place.

Fred pulled her to him. “You really are the most beautiful woman in the world,” he spoke, his eyes filled with nothing but love and joy.

She smiled at him and he leaned down and kissed her slowly, they seemed to get lost in themselves because they heard Dumbledore clearing his throat and George laughing.

They pulled back and smiled at each other.

“May I introduce to you, Messrs. Fred and George Weasley and Mrs. Hermione Weasley-Black,” Dumbledore spoke proudly.

The crowd erupted into cheers and they stood. Hermione looked at Sirius and she saw him wiping at his eyes inconspicuously and she couldn’t help smile at the sight. They made their way down the aisle and to the other side of the lake, where tables and chairs had been set up, a dance floor had been transfigured, musical instruments had been charmed to play and food was set out on tables. Hermione and the twins had decided on more of a buffet than a three course meal, that way they had all of their favourite foods and the food would be available until the reception ended.

Everyone chose their food and they made their way to the tables and they ate and chatted. When the time for the first dance came, Fred was the first to dance with her since George had taken the first kiss from the bride. They danced around the floor and when it was time, they traded off with Hermione dancing with George and the rest of the guests joined in. They had the speeches and Sirius’ in particular had Hermione crying into his shoulder for a good twenty minutes, much to the amusement of him and the surprise of the others at the obvious care he had put into writing it. They partied until the sunset on the spring day and guests started leaving.

“Kitten, a word?” Hermione smiled, walking away from saying her goodbyes to Hagrid and McGonagall. They walked over to a table and sat down, whilst Mrs. Weasley and the other Weasleys helped to clean up. “You know what I want to talk to you about, don’t you?”

She smiled and nodded. “Yes, I do. You don’t have to worry, I’ll be fine.”

“You don’t have to do it tonight, or at all.”

“I know, I promise I’ll be fine, besides, I expect it won’t be tonight.”

“What makes you say that?”

“They’re careful around me, very careful. They don’t touch me unexpectedly and they won’t kiss me unless I give them my permission. They won’t want to push me, look at how they’ve treated me, we’ve been together for a year and a half and they’ve never once expected anything from me. You should’ve seen Fred before I returned to school in January.”

“Why? What happened?”

“Nothing really, just a bit of heavy snogging and he made me promise that I’d tell him to stop if I felt uncomfortable, he kept asking me every two minutes.”

He chuckled. “Those mates of yours, they’re good for you, and they treat you exactly the way you deserve to be treated.”

“Isn’t the father supposed to hate the boyfriend?” she asked amused.

“Well, they’re not your boyfriends, they’re your husbands. And even I can see they love you, they never shut up talking about you. So, you’re sure you’re alright, Kitten?”

“Yes, I am,” she promised him. They stood from their chairs and she hugged him.

“Here comes Snivellus,” he murmured and she hit his shoulder as she pulled away.

“Professor,” Hermione greeted.

“Lovely wedding,” he drawled, she rolled her eyes and then they landed on the two cloaked figures. They’d kept to themselves during the reception and hadn’t really spoken to anyone. Snape noticed her staring.

“Forgive me, this is Agent Comet, I believe he was at your testing.”

“Of course, it’s good to see you again,” she greeted politely. He held his hand out and Hermione eyed it before putting her hand in his, he bowed low over her hand but otherwise didn’t make contact.

“You make a lovely bride, Mrs. Weasley-Black,” he greeted.

“Thank you,” she said shyly.

“And this is Agent Jugulae, he and Agent Comet are both spies for the Order and have been for a long time.”

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Agent Jugulae.”

He held his hand out like Comet had and she put her hand in his, he bowed over it.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you as well, I dare say the noble House of Black will once more flourish with you.”

“I think Sirius is doing a great job so far,” she replied, pulling her hand away.

“Have we met before?” Sirius asked, looking at both cloaked figures with a frown. “You seem familiar.”

“Yes, we have met before,” Agent Jugulae responded, though it sounded like he was suppressing a laugh. “And I agree with you, My Dear, Lord Black is doing a wonderful job of cleaning up The Black name.”

Sirius continued to stare at them as if he were searching for something, though she didn’t know what; with their cloaks and hoods pulled, their faces were covered.

“Kitten, I think your husbands are waiting for you,” he spoke, looking away from them and down at Hermione with a soft smile.

“That reminds me,” Snape drawled. He put his hand into his robe pocket and pulled out a vial of blue liquid. “A Contraception Potion, we wouldn’t want you getting pregnant, now would we?”

Hermione had to force down a blush.

“And why can I not just use a charm?” she asked, folding her arms over her chest.

“Since I stood and brewed this potion for four hours, that’s why. We wouldn’t want any accidents would we?”

“I suppose not,” she muttered, reaching out to take the potion from him.

“Take three sips a day until you return to Hogwarts will work just fine.”

“Thank you, Professor.” He nodded. She turned to Sirius, “I’ll see you in a week.”

“I’ll see you in a week,” he agreed.

“Please don’t let Ronald, Harry or Draco fight; I don’t want to come home to missing limbs and broken furniture.”

“I’ll do my best,” he chuckled.

She hugged him one final time. “I love you,” she whispered.

“I love you too, Kitten.”

If they were looking closely, they would see the smiles hidden under the robes of the two Unspeakables.

“Off you go, they’re waiting, everyone else has already left and everything has been cleared away.”

She smiled before she said her goodbyes and she made her way over to Fred and George who were waiting for her.

“Are you ready to see the cottage?” Fred asked, as he and George each took one of her hands and they started making their way towards the cottage.

“More than ready.”


	24. Chapter 24

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Page count: 7

**The Cottage - Monday 12th April 1997**

Hermione stepped through the door and a smile immediately lit her face as she took in her surroundings, as she expected the cottage was bigger on the inside. The room was large and open planned, the left half of the room was the kitchen. It had oak wood cupboards on the walls, with light kitchen countertops and a black sink, much to her surprise. She had a large, black double oven in the gap in the centre of the countertops and they continued on either side to the walls in an ‘L’ shape. In the middle of the kitchen, there was a kitchen island, also oak wood with several black stools surrounding it. The kitchen/dining table was also oak wood and rectangular, surrounded by six oak wood chairs, with black cushions tied to them. The floor was a light wood and it continued onto the right side of the room, which was the living room half.

A white and comfortable looking corner suite sat in the middle of the room, with two matching armchairs nearby, black and silver cushions were placed strategically. There was an oak wood coffee table in front of the couch and the large fireplace with a lit fire was against the wall opposite it, with a black rug in front of it. The walls were white with black and silver accents and photo frames of different sizes hung on the walls, some of the photo frames contained photos of Hermione and the twins, others of their family members, but most of them were empty so they could be filled in the future. Hermione was surprised to see that one of the photo frames already contained a photo of Hermione and the twins stood at the altar, another of her kissing Fred, and one of her kissing George.

 _‘Bloody hell,’_ she thought. _‘They work fast.’_

A simple, but beautiful chandelier was hung from the ceiling in the middle of the room and candles also floated about the room, adding a certain glow to it. She could see the twins watching her nervously from the corner of her eyes and she smiled widely.

“It’s perfect,” she breathed out in wonder. She heard them breathe out and she chuckled at them.

“We’re not done yet,” George grinned, before he bent down and scooped her up into his arms, she gave a squeal of surprise before laughing and putting her arms around his neck and he walked further in the cottage, Fred closing the door behind them and chuckling.

George led them straight through the centre of the room and towards a corridor, where the stairs were located, but he didn’t go up them, he walked straight past them and further down the corridor which revealed two doors. He stopped at the door on the right and put Hermione on the ground, before opening the door for her.

She gasped at what she saw and she stepped inside, it was a library. It was decorated in the same white, silver and black. Oakwood bookcases covered three of the walls, the fourth wall had several windows that would let natural light in as well as allowing you to see the view of the grounds. The was a gap in the bookcases on the wall that held the door, but the bookcases were filled with books, upon closer inspection, she realised that all of the titles could be found at Grimmauld, if they were the original books or just copies she couldn’t be sure. In the middle of the room sat a black leather couch and the matching arms chairs with a glass coffee table sat in the middle, candles once more floated about the room.

She turned around to see the twins smiling at her softly.

“A home wouldn’t be a home without a library,” Fred spoke, and before they could blink she had thrown herself at them and they chuckled as she squeezed them tightly.

“There’s more, you can explore later,” George spoke, pulling back and then pulling her out of the room and to the door opposite on the right wall and under the staircase, he opened it and it revealed a flight of stairs heading down.

She raised an eyebrow but lifted her dress and walked down them. It was a potions lab. It was the exact opposite of the dungeons at the castle, the entire room was large and airy, decorated in different shades of blues with light wooden flooring, the workbenches were oak and set out in rows and columns, having six in total. Sat atop of them were several different cauldrons, brass, silver, self-stirring, copper, she could go on all day. Cabinets were against the walls, storing ingredients and potions.

She turned to look at them.

“Now we won’t have to be at work all the time, we can hire staff to run the store for us when we’re not there or we can take it in shifts, that way someone will always be home with you and you’ll always have someone to eat dinner with if the other is running late at the shop,” Fred said smiling, she smiled at them softly. Fred walked over to her and swept her up into his arms, she squealed in surprise and wrapped her arms around his neck.

He left the room, walking up the stairs with George following, when they came back up to the corridor, Fred took them upstairs onto the next floor.

“This floor has four bedrooms and two bathrooms, you can see them later, but they haven’t been decorated yet,” he walked straight past the doors, three on each side of the corridor and he walked to the end of the corridor that held another flight of stairs which he carried her up.

Hermione opened the door for him and he took them inside, George closing the door behind them and Fred put her back on the ground as she looked around, it was a large room, the same size as the living room and kitchen, meaning it was the only room on that floor.

The walls were decorated in three different shades of grey with two white lines along the borders of each colour, separating them. The feature wall was white with grey and silver accents, the king-sized bed and the dark leather headboard sat against the wall facing the door. The bedding a mixture of white and grey and white bedside tables sat on either side of the bed. Long flowing white curtains were tied back from the windows and a grey couch with two matching armchairs sat in the room with a glass table, candles once again floated in the room giving a soft glow. On one of the walls was a door which was open and she could see that it lead to a bathroom, on another wall was a door which given the lack of furniture in the room, she suspected to be a walk-in closet. It was simple but beautiful.

“Our bedroom,” they both said and she turned to face them.

“Who did all of this?” she asked awe.

“According to Pureblood tradition, the grooms provide the property, the bride’s father provides the furniture and other material possessions and the groom’s parents decorate the property,” George shrugged.

“And what does the bride do?” she asked with a raised eyebrow.

Fred walked over to her, wrapping his arms around her and he looked down at her, though it wasn’t much seeing as her heels put her closer to his height than usual.

“The bride? She ties herself to the lucky groom for the rest of her life,” he spoke grinning.

He leaned down and kissed her softly, with a flick of his tongue over her bottom lip Hermione opened for him and met his tongue in a slow and sensual dance, as they swayed slightly. Hermione sighed happily and she could hear George moving about the room.

Hermione ran her hands through Fred’s hair and his hands smoothed over her back, thanks to it being backless she shivered, goosebumps erupting over her skin. She felt a second set of hands running up and down her back and a chest pressed against her, a second set of lips placed butterfly kisses against her neck and she sighed once more.

Fred pulled away from her, as George’s hands slipped around her stomach.

“I really do love you both,” she said softly to Fred’s sparkling eyes, he smiled at her.

“Just as we love you,” George spoke from behind her.

“It took us a while and a lot of trouble and hard work to get you here, but it was worth it,” Fred spoke and she felt George nodding behind her in agreement, his chin moving to lean against her shoulder.

“I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else,” she replied and he smiled at her.

“What did Snape give you?” George asked,

“Oh,” she manoeuvred out of their arms and pulled both her wand and the potion out of the pocket she had Mrs. Weasley charm onto her dress. She walked over to the bed and placed them both on the bedside table, before sitting on the bed and kicking off her shoes.

She brought her foot up and started to massage the feeling back into it, seeing as the charms on her shoes had worn off hours ago and her feet were killing her.

“Merlin, my feet are killing me, whoever invented heels needs to be slapped upside the head, what the bloody hell were they thinking?” she grumbled and they chuckled at her, shaking their heads.

George made his way to her and sat on the bed, he pulled her feet into his lap and started massaging them for her and she sighed and flopped back into the pillows, whilst Fred removed his suit jacket, his tie, his vest and undid a few buttons on his shirt and he rolled up his shirt sleeves, Hermione noticed that George had already done this.

Fred then walked over to the bed and climbed on it next to Hermione, and he pulled her into him so that she leaned against him.

“So, the potion?” George prompted.

Her eyes were closed and she was humming slightly, much to George’s glee.

“It’s a Contraception Potion.”

His hands stilled on her feet and she opened her eyes to see the twins shooting each other looks.

“I pointed out that charms could be used but he said I had to take it because he stood and brewed it for four hours,” she shrugged. “I have to take it once a day until I return to Hogwarts, might as well do it now so I don’t forget.”

She sat up, reached over for the potion and removed the stopper before taking three sips, replacing the stopper and putting it back on the bedside table and she leaned back into Fred.

“Hermione?” Fred said softly.

“No, I know what you’re going to say and I’m fine. We’ve been together for a year and a half now, I love you more than anything and you are my mates, my equals. I can’t expect you to remain celibate for the rest of your lives and I don’t want you to.”

“We don’t want to push you, what he did to you...”

“Was in the past, and that’s it, what _he_ did to me, not what you did. This is the last time I will say this, you are not him, you could never hurt me; I love you. Your touch doesn’t affect me the way others do. You are my husbands and I love you, I want this with you.” she looked at them both and they were exchanging looks once again.

“We just want to make sure this is what you want, that you’re not doing this just to make us happy,” George said.

“Of course it’s what I want,” she sighed. “I wouldn’t have taken the potion if I didn’t want it, I wouldn’t have married you if I didn’t want you, I wouldn’t have agreed to that first date if I hadn’t had hope for us.”

They cleared their throats and shifted nervously. “Okay, we have a week before we return to Grimmauld; we want to make sure that you’re definitely comfortable with this.”

“If I’m not I’d tell you,” she promised.

They looked at each other again.

“Okay, but not tonight,” Fred spoke, she couldn’t help but feel dejected and it must’ve shown on her face. “We’ll take this slowly, we’ll spend time making you comfortable with this before we have sex, like George said, we have a week and there’s a lot that can be done in the time we have, but we also have until you go back to Hogwarts.”

“Okay,” she agreed and they seemed to relax.

“Good,” they both spoke.

George continued to massage her feet and she closed her eyes and sighed, leaning further into Fred as he ran a hand over her back. They sat in silence and George swapped to her other foot.

It was ten minutes later when Hermione was on the verge of falling asleep, her eyes closed and she could feel sleep wanting to claim her, but then she felt hands moving from her feet and slowly moving upwards, trailing up her ankles, up her shins and to her knees, before moving back down and repeating the process, she sighed happily before she let out a giggle as George tickled behind her knees. Her eyes opened and his eyes were sparkling with mischief and he tickled her again, just as Fred’s hands moved to her sides and he started tickling her too.

She burst out laughing and started wriggling trying to get them to stop, they did eventually when she begged them to and by this point, tears were running down her face. Her face had flushed red and she wiped at her eyes, trying to get her breathing back under control.

“That was mean,” she scowled.

“Maybe,” George shrugged, “but it got you laughing.”

Fred climbed off the bed and George did the same, he held his hands out for her and she took them and he pulled her off the bed until she was standing.

“It’s getting late, you’ve had a busy day and you need your sleep,” Fred spoke from beside her.

“But...” she tried to protest.

“No,” he said softly, shaking his head. “Not tonight, like we said, we have until you return to Hogwarts; we’re not going to rush you into this.”

She pouted and they chuckled at her, before kissing her softly.

“So, the first step, being comfortable with being naked in front of us, but, we won’t start that step yet, for now, we’ll stick to underwear only.”

“Fine,” she grumbled, causing them to chuckle at her.

George moved to her front and Fred her back. George cupped her cheeks and bent down to kiss her, whilst Fred’s hands travelled her back, stopping near her neck and he undid the button, before moving his hands down to the zip and undoing it as far as it would go.

He moved his hands up to shoulders, pushing her hair out of the way and placing butterfly kisses to her neck, pushing the lace off her shoulders and down her arms, his kisses moving to her shoulders to replace the fabric and his hands moved around to her stomach.

George took over, moving his hands from her face and to her arms, pulling the sleeves off the rest of the way, Fred’s hands moved away from her stomach, and since he was no longer holding her dress up, it fell to the floor pooling around Hermione’s feet.

George pulled back from her, both breathing heavily and his eyes darkened as he took in her strapless lace brace and matching boy-shorts, the clasp of the bra had been charmed invisible so it wouldn’t be seen due to the backless dress.

He shot a look to Fred who shook his head, George sighed and took in a deep breath, gaining control over himself. His twin was right, they had to move slowly, they had to be certain that she was comfortable; they needed more than just her words.

George scooped her and lifted her away from the dress, his hands grazing her soft skin before putting her back on the ground. Fred stepped in front of her and he brought his hands up to her neck and removed her necklace and placed it on the bedside table before he removed the pretty pins from her hair and the curls that were held back now fell around her face and spilt over her shoulders.

“Beautiful,” Fred spoke softly, his thumb running over her cheek and she leaned into his touch.

“Stunning,” George agreed, nodding his head as his hand softly trailed up her arm.

“Breathtaking -”

“- Gorgeous -”

“- Dazzling -”

“- Incredible -”

“- Magnificent -”

Hermione laughed at them and they grinned. “I get it,” she blushed, her cheeks flaming under Fred’s hand.

“Are you sure, we have more synonyms?” George beamed and she chuckled softly.

They then both stepped back from her and they kicked off their socks and shoes, quickly following that with beginning to unbutton their shirts. Hermione’s breath stopped, she had to remind herself to breathe, then her breath sped up and she had to remind herself to calm down, she was all over the place!

The twins quickly shook off their shirts and her eyes refused to blink, refused to look away from them. Their chests were both equally muscled from years of Quidditch, she could see the clear lines and ridges, she could see every inch of their pale skin and the red hair that started at their navel before disappearing under their underwear.

Wait! Underwear?

They’d both removed their trousers and were left in their black boxer briefs, when the hell had they done that? She tilted her head to the side when she noticed the distinct bulge in them, despite their bodies reactions to her she knew their minds were made up, they were resolute in their decision to ease her into things, even though she was slightly annoyed that they couldn’t take her word for it, she couldn’t help but love them all the more for their decision to make sure that she was one hundred percent certain of what she wanted.

She jumped when she felt someone snake their arms around her stomach, it was George, whilst Fred had one hand on her waist and the other tilted her chin up so she was looking at him. He had a questioning look on his face, a little frown of worry.

“Sorry, my mind just ran away from me, I’m fine.”

“Yeah?”

“Yes, I promise,” she smiled at them and they both seemed to relax. “I really do love you both.”

They smiled at her.

“And we you, now, come on, it’s time for sleep, George over here needs his beauty rest.”

“Oi, I’m the handsomer twin”

“Sure you are,” Fred said in a tone that showed he didn’t believe his twin’s words and he sent a wink at Hermione that had her giggling.

George scooped her up and carried her to the bed, whilst Fred flicked his wand sending all their clothing to hang over the back of the couch. He then moved the blankets and George set Hermione down in the centre of the bed. He climbed in after her and Fred climbed in on the other side.

Hermione snuggled into them with what had quickly become their usual positions, Fred on his back with Hermione’s head on his chest, George holding her from behind and she entwined her fingers through his as he ran them up and down her stomach lightly, Fred doing the same to her shoulders and the back of her neck.

Hermione lifted her free hand and clicked her fingers, all of the floating candles went out, plunging the room into darkness; they chuckled at her.

“Best day of my life,” Hermione muttered as she fell into a peaceful sleep. The twins agreed and they, too, fell asleep, also with smiles on their faces.


	25. Chapter 25

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Page count: 8

**The Cottage - Thursday 15th April 1997**

The first couple of days of the honeymoon flew by for Hermione, she spent most of her time in the library, at which she had concluded all of the books were the originals from Grimmauld, meaning Sirius had likely copied them and kept the copies at Grimmauld for The Order and given her the originals as a wedding gift. When she wasn’t in the library with the twins, she was down in their potions lab, helping them to improve recipes or figure out why a certain potion kept exploding.

Unfortunately for the twins, they had discovered that Hermione was no Mrs. Weasley; she couldn’t cook to save her life. They didn’t believe her until she’d made them a lasagne which ended up being a confusing mixture of burnt and undercooked. All in all, it was inedible, likely fatal. They’d laughed at her scowl and her mutterings to herself, luckily they didn’t go unfed since George had some talent in the kitchen, much to Hermione’s surprise, though Fred informed her that, he too, was pants in the kitchen making her feel better. So the designated cook for the rest of their lives together would be George, though he didn’t seem to mind.

Everything between them was perfect, except for the fact that they’d kept their word and on the third day of their honeymoon, they’d yet to have sex. She’d tried to convince them, to bring them around, to change their minds but they held out. George was much easier to dissuade, all it took was a pleading gaze from Hermione, a few kisses which quickly turned into something more and he would be on the verge of giving in to her wishes, but Fred would miraculously turn up out of nowhere and interfere, pulling George away from her and reining him in since Fred was the most controlled of the two. He was the one to keep George from always going too far. Hermione would pout and then huff before storming off and Fred would chuckle at her, shaking his head in amusement.

She’d lost count of the number of times she’d cornered George, but she wasn’t afraid to admit she had yet to give in and so, when she found George in the kitchen making a late dinner since they’d worked through it in the lab, she couldn’t help herself.

He was fresh out of the shower, the air filled with the scent of cinnamon and spice, his red hair darker than usual since it was still damp, he was shirtless and clad only in pyjama bottoms, giving her a rather nice view.

Hermione had a smile on her face as she walked towards him and wrapping her arms around him from behind. He looked over his shoulder and gave her a smile before going back to his task.

“Should be about twenty minutes,” he commented.

“Hmm, what are you making?”

“Lasagne,” he answered with a smirk.

“Rub it in why don’t you,” she muttered and he laughed at her.

“Sorry, couldn’t resist.”

“How are you going to make it up to me?”

He looked over his shoulder with a smirk, before slipping the knife into the sink, wiping his hands down and then turning around to face her. He wrapped his arms around her back and pulled her closer to him.

“And how can I make it up to my beautiful wife?” he asked, looking down at her, whilst she looked up to him.

“You’re a creative genius, I’m sure you could come up with something,”

“A creative genius, eh?” he spoke smugly.

“You know, I’ve been practising with my elemental magic.”

“Yeah?”

“Yes, I’m sure there’s something I could do to keep that ego of yours in line.”

“I’m sure there is,” he agreed, nodding seriously. “How about I apologise now?”

“I think that’s for the best,” she agreed. He chuckled at her before he ducked his head down and kissed her.

Hermione rose up onto her tiptoes and wound her arms around his neck, her hands moving into his hair and tugging lightly. They both let out moans and George turned them so Hermione’s back hit the countertop and he cautiously ran his hands down her sides, past her sleep shorts and he gently picked her up, setting her on the counter, stepping in between her legs which she hooked around the back of his legs to keep him to her.

He groaned into her mouth and his hands slipped under her shirt to trail over her sides, before moving down to her legs. Her hands moved from his hair to his shoulders, squeezing and gripping before trailing her fingers gently down his torso, he shivered and twitched under her gentle ministrations.

It was clear they had both forgotten their surroundings, that they’d gotten lost in the other since they didn’t notice Fred walk into the room, his hair also damp and wearing a t-shirt and pyjama bottoms.

He stopped when he entered and noticed the two of them, oblivious to anyone but each other. He watched them amused and leaned against the breakfast bar with his arms folded.

He cleared his throat to get their attention and to alert them to his presence, but they ignored him. He chuckled and cleared his throat again, they still ignored him. He noticed they were both becoming more insistent in their actions towards each other. Hermione’s hands gripped at George’s shoulders, before raking down his back and across his shoulders.

George’s hands had disappeared under her shirt, before they moved to her hips, pulling her closer to him and the edge of the counter, in which Hermione’s legs moved from being hooked around his legs, to wrapping around his waist.

Fred thought it best to quickly defuse the situation before things were taken too far.

He coughed but still, they didn’t react. He rolled his eyes and sighed.

“Oi!” he called.

They pulled away from each other, their eyes glazed over and chests heaving. They turned their heads to look at him and he raised an eyebrow at their annoyed expressions.

“What?” Hermione scowled.

“Just thought I’d stop you both before things went a little too far,” he commented.

“And what’s wrong with that?” she asked, pulling her arms away from George and crossing them in front of her.

“Hermione, we have to be careful, we have to be sure that you’re both ready and comfortable,” he spoke softly, seeing that she was clearly annoyed with him.

“And why can’t you just take my word for it?” she asked with irritation showing not only on her face, but in her voice too. “Don’t you trust me?” That time she sounded hurt before she hopped off the counter and headed out of the room.

George sighed and ran his hand through his hair before looking at his twin, who had a frown on his face.

“She’s right, you know?” George spoke and Fred looked up at him. “We should trust her judgement; we should trust that she’s telling us the truth.”

“She was sexually abused for years, George!” Fred’s voice rose.

“I know she was, but she’s right, we have to listen to her, imagine the way she feels,” George spoke calmly. “She’s practically begging us and we keep rejecting her. When she didn’t want the attention of her father, he wouldn’t leave her alone, but now she wants to be with us and we’re keeping her at arm’s length.”

“We can’t hurt her!”

“We can still be with her without hurting her, we just have to be careful, at least for a little while, take our cues from her.”

Fred sighed and ran his hand through his hair, exasperated.

“You think we should give her what she wants,” he stated knowingly.

“I do,” he shrugged.

“You’re just thinking with your dick,” Fred paced back and forth.

“Not entirely, I love her, she’s our wife, of course I want to have sex with her, but she wants it too and we’re denying her the right as well as ourselves, we’re not listening to her wishes.”

“We need to tread lightly.”

“And we have been, but she wants more, we don’t have to have sex with her now, just give her more, it’s what she wants.”

“You think we should move onto the next step?”

“I think we should skip a few,” he shrugged. “If it bothers you, you don’t have to be present, but I don’t think I can deny her any longer, it’s killing me inside.”

He sighed in defeat. “Fine, we skip a few steps, but not sex, not yet.”

George shrugged. “Fine with me,” he turned and quickly removed the lasagne from the oven seeing as it was done, he cast a Stasis Charm over it and then left the room with Fred following behind him.

They checked the library and potion’s lab, seeing that Hermione wasn’t in either room and they headed to their bedroom.

Hermione was sat on the bed, her legs crossed and looking down at the quilt cover, her hands tracing patterns on the fabric. She didn’t look up when they entered, neither did she when they sat down on either side of her.

“We love you,” Fred spoke, reaching up and pushing a curl behind her ear.

“Funny way of showing it,” she muttered.

Fred sighed. “Hermione, I love you, I’m just worried that we’ll push you too far and you’ll have a flashback, look how far you’ve come. I saw you hug Harry and Malfoy at the wedding, you couldn’t do that when we started dating. And you danced with our father and brothers too. I don’t want you to go back over on all the progress you’ve made.”

“You have to trust that I know what I’m doing, that I know what I want, that I’ll tell you if something makes me uncomfortable. We have to communicate with each other.”

“I know, and I’m sorry if I made you feel unwanted, of course I want you, I just have more control over myself than George.”

“Don’t I know it,” she mumbled and George snorted at her.

“The point is, I’m sorry, I love you, we both do.” He kissed her cheek and she sighed and he knew she’d forgiven him. She turned to face him and he gave her a soft smile.

“You’re an idiot,” she stated without remorse.

“I am,” he agreed, nodding his head.

“A lovable idiot, but an idiot nevertheless.”

He grinned at her, before leaning forward and kissing her. He pulled back to see her smiling slightly and he chuckled before kissing her once more, pushing her down onto the mattress until she lay on her back and he was hovering over her.

“And we think that this is the perfect opportunity for us skip a few steps, not sex yet, but more,” he spoke, once he pulled away from her mouth.

“Really?” she asked, her smile wide and her eyes shining.

In that moment Fred knew that he was making the right decision. He looked over to his twin who looked just as happy as Hermione did, and with that look, they both decided it should be George to carry out the next step.

“Really,” he confirmed, before kissing her one last time and then he pulled back. She looked confused when he moved and laid down beside her.

“George,” was the only answer he gave her.

She turned her head to the left to see George grinning and she couldn’t stop the laugh that left her.

“You look creepy,” she commented.

“She’s right, it’s frightening, is that what I look like when I do that?” Fred asked, causing her to laugh louder.

“This is supposed to be an intense and serious moment,” George huffed, but they knew he was only messing with them.

“Sorry,” she laughed and he shook his head at her.

When she calmed down he moved closer to her until he was hovering over her and looking down at her.

“Ground rules,” he spoke and she nodded. “If I do anything you are not comfortable with, you need to tell me. If I do anything you don’t like, you need to tell me. If you want me to stop, you need to tell me, agreed?”

She looked up at him with a soft smile on her face, lifting her hand to trail down his cheek and he leaned into her touch.

“I promise.”

He smiled at her before tilting his head down to kiss her, as soon as his lips touched hers, all of the passion that had been building between them in the kitchen came back full force, as if they’d never been interrupted.

Her hands found their way into his hair, tugging and pulling before moving to his shoulders and back, she could feel his hands running over her stomach and sides, under her shirt and she shivered under him.

His hands found their way to the edge of her shirt and he tugged on it and pulled away from her, a questioning look on his face.

She looked at George and then Fred, they both wore the same expression. She smiled at them both.

“It’s okay, I promise.”

They both eyed her carefully, shared a look and then George slowly moved her shirt up, giving her the chance to stop him, but she didn’t. In fact, she helped him by shifting so he could pull her shirt over her shoulders, head and arms.

They both went silent when her bare breasts were revealed to them, seeing as she wasn’t wearing a bra. They both stared with their mouths hung open and Hermione giggled in response, unable to contain it.

“You’re not wearing a bra,” George whispered in shock.

“Obviously,” she laughed at them, drawing their attention back to her face. “They’re uncomfortable to sleep in,” she shrugged.

They both let out strangled sounds before George’s mouth crashed against hers, the passion between them burning. Only when she was breathless did he pull away from her and he turned his attention to trailing kisses across her cheek, down her jaw and he nibbled at her ear lobe.

She gave a moan and her hands gripped at his biceps, her nails digging into his skin. He slowly moved down her, pressing kisses down her throat, moving down the valley of her breasts and George quickly shared a look with Fred before he slipped his mouth around Hermione’s nipple, gauging her reaction.

She gasped loudly and moaned, her nails biting into him harder and her back arching off the bed and into him. She could feel Fred beside her, running a hand softly up and down her arm, across her shoulder and collar bone and back down to her arm, repeating the movement over and over again.

“Do you want him to stop?” he asked her softly.

She shook her head wildly. “No,” she moaned.

At her approval, George gave a nip before soothing it with his tongue and he continued to suck gently, before pulling away and moving to her other nipple. After a couple of minutes George slowly started making his way down her body once more, placing kisses down her stomach, dipping his tongue into her navel and she giggled, causing him to chuckle.

He dragged his teeth across her hip bone before kissing along the length of the waistband of her shorts. He once more shared a look with Fred and then looked at Hermione.

As if knowing what he was thinking she locked her eyes on his. She guessed this was the next step, she was comfortable around them, there was no doubt about that, they had all slept in their underwear since the wedding night so that didn’t bother her. But would it bother her being naked? There was only one way to find out.

She nodded and lifted her hips off the bed, George stared at her for a few seconds before hooking his fingers into not only her shorts, but her underwear too, and he dragged them down her body, his eyes, as well as Fred’s, remained glued to her, watching for her reaction. She seemed fine and so he dropped the clothing onto the floor.

He started placing soft kisses on her ankle, his hands making their way up her body, his lips following the movement and when he reached the top of her thigh, he moved to her other leg, starting at her ankle and slowly making his way up, nibbling at the skin behind her knee and she giggled before moaning.

When he reached the apex of her thighs, her chest was rising and falling erratically, her eyes were closed and her head titled back slightly, her hands gripped the bedding and she let out soft pants and moans, as Fred’s hands had now moved to trailing over her stomach.

He and George shared a look and Fred nodded, George turned his attention back to Hermione before he ducked his head down and placed a kiss on her centre, his tongue darting out to swipe through her glistening folds. George gave a groan and his eyes closed, whilst Hermione gasped loudly and her hips bucked in response.

“Do you want him to stop?” Fred asked her and George took another tentative swipe with his tongue, watching her reaction.

“Merlin, no!” she exclaimed.

That was all George needed to know and he lowered his head to swipe his tongue through her folds several more times, dipping into her entrance before pulling back out, almost as if he hadn’t even done it, but he had and she knew it. His mouth found her nub and he sucked it into his mouth, nibbling gently before letting go and swirling and curling his tongue.

Hermione’s head flew back further, her moans were getting louder, her breathing faster, her grip on the bedding was getting tighter and they both relished in the sounds she was making and the sight she made.

They could both tell she was getting close to her release.

Fred removed her hand from the bedding and brought it up to his mouth, he kissed her fingertips before nibbling each one gently. George once more brought her nub into his mouth at the same time as Fred sucked the tip of her index finger into his mouth, flicking his tongue over the tip and nibbling.

Hermione gave a long, drawn-out moan and her body shook as the knot in her stomach suddenly snapped and she lost all thought, she lost all of her senses, she couldn’t hear or see, she could only feel, feel what her husbands were doing to her.

George didn’t let up, continuing to stimulate her, lapping up her release lazily and drawing out her pleasure for longer.

Only when she slumped into the mattress did he pull back from her. He moved back up her body, hovering over her and he looked down at her relaxed expression, her eyes closed and her mouth parted as pants left her.

“You okay?” he asked her softly.

She nodded, speechless.

“You’re sure?”

“Yes,” she breathed out and then her eyes fluttered open, her eyes locked onto his turquoise ones and she reached up with her free hand -since Fred was still placing kisses to her other- and she hooked it around his neck and pulled him down to her so she could kiss him.

Her mouth met his eagerly and he was slightly surprised by her reaction but quickly got himself under control and kissed her back. Her hand moved from his neck and trailed down his body until she reached the waistband of his pyjama bottoms. George pulled back and looked down at her softly.

“Nope,”

“But what about you?” she frowned, seeing the obvious desire he had for her, Fred too.

“Nope, this is all about you.”

“Even if I want to?”

He drew in a ragged breath. “Not tonight.”

“Later?”

“Merlin, this is going to be a long night!” George groaned and Fred chuckled, shaking his head.


	26. Chapter 26

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Page count: 8

**The Cottage - Sunday 20th April 1997**

“We don’t have to do this,” Fred spoke gently, looking down at her with observant eyes, watching her like a hawk for a tell of any kind that she was uncomfortable.

They would be returning to Grimmauld the next morning and Hermione would be returning to Hogwarts the following Wednesday. They’d spent their previous days getting Hermione comfortable with anything of a sexual nature and so far she hadn’t complained and she hadn’t asked them to stop.

Hermione had finally convinced them that she was ready to have sex with them. It had been decided that Fred would be her first seeing as he had the better control of the two; he was less likely to lose his sense than George.

So after George had brought Hermione to orgasm with his very talented tongue, he moved to lay down beside her whilst Fred took his place hovering over her.

“I want this, Fred,” she spoke clearly, her face still flushed from her previous orgasm. His eyes searched hers before he took a deep breath.

“Okay, we’ll do this slowly, if you need me to stop, tell me.”

She smiled and nodded, running her hand down his cheek. He turned his head into her touch and kissed her palm.

He lined himself up at her entrance, coating himself in her wetness; they both let out moans at the feeling. Fred pulled her leg to rest over his hip before ducking down and taking her mouth in a consuming kiss to give her a distraction.

One of Hermione’s hands was caught in his hair, the other was held by George who lay beside her, his fingers entwined with hers as he pressed kisses to her hand and nibbled with his teeth.

She felt the slightest pressure inside of her and gasped into Fred’s mouth as he slowly pushed into her. It was very uncomfortable. He stopped before pulling out and pushing back in a little, rocking his hips and stretching her. He moved in a little further, before pulling back and repeating the process. Hermione’s hand had moved down to his bicep and she gripped tightly, her nails digging into him and leaving crescent-shaped marks, whilst her other hand tightened on George’s.

She pulled her mouth from his and looked up at him.

“Fred, just do it, please.”

He looked down at her and nodded. “Take a deep breath,” he warned, before pulling out, she held her breath before he locked his eyes on her and pushed in completely, tearing through her hymen.

She gasped loudly, her eyes squeezed shut tightly and she bit her lip drawing blood, her grip on George’s hand and Fred’s arm tightened considerably.

Fred groaned and buried his head into her neck, taking deep breaths and forcing himself to not move as he occasionally pressed kisses to her skin. George was beside her, whispering in her ear and pressing kisses to her cheek and neck.

Slowly her grip on them lessened and she wriggled her hips, trying to get used to the feeling of being so full, so stretched. Fred groaned and his hips rocked in response before he caught himself.

“It’s okay, you can move now,” she promised him.

He pulled his head from her neck, looking down at her for confirmation before he leaned down and kissed her, drawing back slowly and pushing in. He felt her tense up before she relaxed and he repeated his actions.

A short while later she was panting and letting out little moans and mewls. Instinctively she brought her other leg up and hooked it over his hip, they both groaned at the feel of him being able to move deeper inside of her.

Fred pulled back from her, pushing himself up onto his hands so he could better focus on giving her the pleasure he wanted her to have. George turned her head and captured her mouth in a consuming kiss, his hand still entwined with hers.

Hermione let out a loud moan when George sucked on the tip of her tongue and Fred changed the angle of his hips, hitting a spot inside of her that had her pulling away from George, flinging her head back and her inner muscles clenching, her walls fluttering.

Fred’s breathing was coming out in pants and he willed himself to remain in control. They could both tell she was close, which Fred was thankful for; he wasn’t sure how much longer he could hold on, she just felt too good, too warm, too silky, too wet, too tight. It was bordering on being painful.

“Let go, Love,” George whispered against her ear, his breath tickling her and his tongue caressed the shell of her ear.

The damn inside Hermione burst, a long, drawn-out moan feel from her mouth, her eyes slammed shut and her entire body arched into Fred’s as her walls clenched him. He tried to hold back, he did, but it was too hard, it’d been a long while since his last sexual partner, a couple of months before he’d started dating Hermione and he’d honestly never felt more relaxed, happier.

A burst of magic suddenly left Hermione, five coloured balls of light burst from her chest and floated in the air above them, orange, blue, green, silver and white. They spun in a circle and lit the entire room, as soon as it happened Hermione let out a scream and a second wave hit her, bringing her to orgasm once more.

Fred collapsed exhausted and breathing heavily, he barely caught himself in time to stop himself from squashing her.

“You okay?” he asked panting, her eyes fluttered open and he noticed that her eyes had changed colour, like that time they had when she’d healed George after the attack. Her eyes were no longer chocolate brown, they were now multi-coloured and he stared in wonder.

“Perfect,” her voice came out musical. “I love you, My Mate.”

Fred’s entire body shivered and he gulped. He didn’t know where his next words came from, but they felt right.

“Just as I love you, My Wife, My Love, My Lady,” he responded and he leaned down to kiss her, before pulling out of her and moving to the side, he looked up at the glowing orbs of light in awe.

Without thought, Hermione turned to George and he was smiling at her, she leaned forward and kissed him and it quickly ended with him hovering over her, preparing to enter her. He didn’t bother asking her if it was what she wanted, he could see her answer as clear as day on her face and in her multi-coloured eyes.

He took her mouth in a consuming kiss and he pushed into her, sheathing himself in her tight channel. She gasped into his mouth and he let out a groan at the tightness, the silkiness, the heat that surrounded him. He allowed her time to adjust to him before she wriggled her hips, giving him her permission to move.

He started with a slow and steady pace, but it soon wasn’t enough for either of them and Hermione’s legs wrapped around his waist and her hips moved against his.

He pushed himself off his elbows and onto his hands, dragging his mouth away from hers and down her neck, nipping and sucking. He felt the mattress shift, Fred turned to face them, his head propped on one hand, his other hand started to trail over the skin of Hermione‘s stomach in the gap between their bodies.

Hermione’s pants were coming out quicker, her moans louder and she gripped at the bedding tightly. George sat back on his haunches and moved his hands to her hips, pulling her into him with each of his thrusts, each thrust getting harder and faster until he was slamming into her.

That was the reason it was decided Fred would be her first, George didn’t want to lose control of himself and hurt her, but she didn’t seem to mind. Fred was suckling at her neck, his hand snaked down Hermione’s stomach and to her centre where he found her nub and rubbed in well-timed circles.

Hermione’s head flung back and without warning her walls clamped down around George, she arched into him and gave a loud moan through her pants. George clenched his teeth and hissed, he cursed in surprise when it happened and he was powerless to hold back and he found his release. When he did Hermione screamed as a second orgasm hit her and once more, orbs of light burst from her chest, they flew into the air, melding with the others and they spun quickly.

George was panting and he leaned down and kissed her.

“I love you, My Mate,” her musical voice said.

“I love you, My Wife, My Love, My Lady,” he responded, having no idea where the words had come from but they felt right to him.

He pulled out of her and flopped down beside her, just as the orbs of light collided, they gave a sudden bang and then they burst like fireworks around the room. They all watched mesmerised.

“What was that?” Fred whispered in the silence. Hermione snuggled into them with a smile on her face.

“That was us.”

They looked at her confused. “Us?” they questioned.

“Hmm, that was our magic, our lives and our souls merging together. That was the completion of our bond. ” They smiled at her.

“You feeling okay?” George asked her softly.

She hummed. “Wonderful.” They beamed in response.

~000~000~000~

**12 Grimmauld Place - Monday 21st April 1997**

“Kitten?” Hermione looked up and smiled when Sirius entered her bedroom. Hermione and the twins had returned to Grimmauld three hours prior and she knew he had wanted to talk to her.

He sat down on the bed beside her.

“So, how was your week?”

She knew what he was asking. “It was wonderful, Sirius,” she said, and he looked relieved. “I was right though, they made me wait a week,” she scowled and he chuckled at her. “It was three days into our honeymoon when I finally threw a hissy fit since we hadn’t done anything but kiss and cuddle.” He snorted at her. “They spent the rest of the week easing me into everything slowly.”

“So last night?”

She nodded. “The bond’s complete, we saw it, orbs of light floated in the air before they exploded like fireworks.” He smiled at her. “That’s not all that happened though.”

“What else happened?” he frowned.

She blushed and he raised an eyebrow.

She cleared her throat. “Well, since the floo network still isn’t set up we had to apparate, when we left the cottage things were a little different.”

“How so?”

“More flowers, more trees, the grass looked greener and the lake, it looked clean, the colour of the Caribbean Ocean even.”

He looked intrigued. “It was forecast rain today, you’re the reason it’s currently twenty-three degrees in the middle of spring and there’s not a cloud in the sky?” he said amused.

“I think so, a side effect of the bonding maybe?”

“It’s likely,” he nodded. “You’re sure you’re alright?”

“Yes, I’m perfect,” she assured him.

Hermione looked up when she heard the twins walking into the room, both with smug looks on their faces.

“You’re looking smug,” she commented.

“Well, we have reason to be,” George grinned. Fred slapped him on the back of the head before he could say anything else, especially in front of Sirius.

“That’s my cue to leave,” Sirius spoke standing. “Before I forget, they took the bait.”

“Death Eaters?” Hermione asked.

He nodded. “They turned up at the warehouse at sunrise, we were waiting for them, we managed to capture five of them, Dumbledore has a place to keep them for now, we can’t risk them in Azkaban with The Ministry being corrupt.”

“Do we know their identities?”

“Just two, Avery and McNair, the other three look to be new recruits, they’re out of the way anyway,” he shrugged, before leaving the room.

~000~000~000~

**Hogwarts - Wednesday 23rd April 1997**

Hermione was sat at the Gryffindor table eating her dinner when there was a loud shriek and the entire hall went quiet. Lavender and Pavarti ran into the hall and shoved Harry out of the way so they could sit next to her.

“You got married!” they shrieked, picking up her left hand and seeing the no longer glamoured engagement ring and her newly added wedding ring. The entire hall broke into whispers, she turned and glared down the table at Ginny who promptly looked away.

“Yes, I got married,” she said, both looking and sounding bored.

“But you said you weren’t getting married, that they were just rumours,” Lavender pouted.

“I lied, we are in times of war, I wasn’t putting my husbands and my family at risk of a Death Eater attack, on what is supposed to be a day of happiness and love. I was not turning that into a bloodbath.”

“Did you have a honeymoon?” Pavarti asked.

“Yes, we stayed at the property Fred and George bought for us to live in.”

They sighed. “That’s so romantic, a secret wedding and a secret honeymoon,” Pavarti looked off into the distance with a stupid look on her face.

“Now, Hermione, tell me,” Lavender spoke looking at her seriously. “Fred and George, we’ve heard rumours, are they true?”

Pavarti giggled. “Yeah, is it true they’re good in bed? Like Sex God good?”

Hermione stared at them before turning back to her food and ignoring them completely. They continued to prattle on and Harry laughed when he noticed Hermione’s less than pleased expression. He suspected he would have his work cut out for him when having to stop her from hexing the Gossip Queens. 

~000~000~000~

**Monday 30th June 1997**

Two months after Hermione returned to Hogwarts and she was set to leave for the summer in a few days time. Exams were over, classes were done, everyone was just waiting to go home until they returned to school next September.

She and the twins communicated regularly, but she missed them, more so than she ever thought possible. It was like there was something inside of her that craved them. She ached to be near them, she ached to hear their voices and to see their smiles. She ached to have them touch her. She couldn’t describe it, she just wanted them, no, she _needed_ them.

She’d been feeling different lately; her back was always aching, so were her to feet to the point of poor Harry or Draco having to rub her shoulders for her when they were alone. She had wicked mood swings that put the fear of Merlin in everyone, her magic had even been acting up. She once walked past a lit torch and the flames went flying through the air and they crashed into a suit of armour, catching the tail of a tapestry which burnt down, almost along with a portrait. She looked at a glass of water and it exploded, her cauldron melted in potions, and in charms, she accidentally levitated Flitwick. He hadn’t been impressed.

It wasn’t just her magic that was affected, no, the weather was too. Due to her mood swings, when she felt sad she had hysterical crying fits in which the springtime weather outside, promptly changed to rainstorms that flooded the castle grounds. It was fair to say they’d had a few in the last month.

On top of that, she hadn’t been able to keep any food down for the last three weeks, all she had to do was look at Ron scoffing his face and she went green and had to leave the great hall to find the nearest bathroom, in which she would empty the contents of her stomach for close to half an hour. It even happened in class, Snape had to send her to the bathroom several times in potions, as had Hagrid in care of magical creatures. And to top it off, she couldn’t sleep and if she stood up too fast she got light-headed.

She put it down to stress and she was glad she would be seeing her husbands soon.

She was currently making her way to the great hall for lunch with Harry. As she entered the great hall the smell of food overwhelmed her senses and a wave of nausea hit her. She threw her hand over her mouth and darted to the nearest girl’s bathroom, without thought Harry ran after her.

She barely made it in time before she lost the contents of her stomach, well, what she had left of it. She coughed and rested her head against the toilet as she slumped on the ground.

“Hermione!” Harry called.

“I’m fine!” she said, before she retched again, coughing as she felt the acid from her stomach burn the back of her throat.

Harry scrunched his nose up.

“Hermione?” he said again, this time moving to the stall and pushing the door open to see her slumped figure. “Hermione, I’m worried about you, you haven’t been right for weeks. Your magic’s off, you’re always complaining about back pain, your temper’s worse, you snapped at Malfoy for breathing too loud yesterday and you’ve been throwing up for a week.”

“Three weeks,” she corrected.

He shuffled on his feet nervously.

“What is it, Harry?” she sighed.

“Well, it’s that... well... do you think you could be... you know?” he looked around, making sure they were the only occupants of the bathroom. “Pregnant,” he whispered the last word. 

She looked up at him with a serious expression on her face. “I’m not pregnant, Harry.”

“You could be, I’m a bloke and even I know the basic symptoms of pregnancy.”

“Harry, I take the Contraception Potion.” His face flushed. “I took it once a day and stopped when I returned to Hogwarts.”

“Okay, so it’s not pregnancy, what is it? You’re clearly not well.”

“Stress,” she answered.

He snorted. “That’s ridiculous, go to the hospital wing; it’s been going on long enough.”

“No,” she replied stubbornly.

“Go to the hospital wing.”

“I’ll be fine.”

“Don’t make me go and get Malfoy, we’re not supposed to interact in public, but I’ll bring him here so he can help me drag you to the hospital wing, do you want to put his life in danger?”

“Fine!” she snapped, standing up, flushing the toilet and storming out of the bathroom and towards the hospital wing. Harry followed behind her at a distance after seeing that her hair was sparking.

When they reached the hospital wing Madame Pomphrey approached them.

“Mr. Potter, Mrs. Weasley-Black, what can I help you with?” she asked them.

“Hermione’s been under the weather lately,” Harry answered, whilst Hermione silently fumed at her best friend.

“Oh dear,” she muttered, ushering Hermione onto a bed. “What are the symptoms?”

“Her magic’s acting out, she’s been having mood swings, aching back and feet, light-headed when she stands up, and she’s been throwing her guts up for the last three weeks,” he listed. Her eyes widened immediately at the list.

“I’m not pregnant,” Hermione said, seeing the look Madam Pomphrey had trained on her stomach. “I was on the Contraception Potion, Professor Snape brewed it himself.”

Madame Pomphrey hummed. “His potions are always one hundred percent effective,” she said thoughtfully.

“I know, I think it’s just stress, you know, the war, getting married, exams.”

She nodded. “That’s possible, but I’d like to run a few diagnostic spells just to be sure, you do look a little peaky.”

She sighed. Madame Pomphrey began waving her wand in intricate motions and muttering under her breath, humming and looking thoughtful.

“Okay, that rules that out,” she said to herself. “One more spell if you will, a Pregnancy Charm, I know, but I just want to be sure,” she spoke, interrupting Hermione’s rant before it could start. “If we have a white glow it’s negative, a golden glow is positive,” she told them.

Hermione sighed and Harry held his breath as Madame Pomphrey cast the charm.

Hermione’s stomach began to glow and they all held their breaths.


	27. Chapter 27

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Page count: 11

**Hogwarts – Monday 30th June 1997**

“No, that’s not possible,” Hermione said, staring at the golden glow with a mixture of shock and fear. “It’s not possible, I took three sips of the Contraception Potion every day and I didn’t stop until I returned to Hogwarts after the holidays. I did everything that I was told to do.”

She looked up and away from the golden glow to see Harry on the verge of fainting; he swayed on his feet and sat down on the bed adjacent to hers. She felt a slight amount of anger at Harry for his reaction, she was the one that was pregnant; she was the one that would be carrying a baby for nine to ten months, not him. He had no right to faint! If anything _she_ should be the one fainting.

“The test is positive, Mrs. Weasley-Black,” Madam Pomphrey spoke in a soft tone.

“No,” she shook her head, “No, the test’s wrong, do it again.”

“When was your last period?”

Harry flushed bright red.

“That’s irrelevant; my period has always been irregular, I’ve once gone three months without one.”

“Mrs. Weasley-Black...”

“No, do it again.”

Madam Pomphrey sighed before casting the charm, a golden glow once more appeared over her stomach, Hermione being in denial had Madam Pomphrey cast the charm a total of five times.

“That’s five positives, ‘Mione, you’re pregnant,” Harry spoke, looking like he had pulled himself together.

“No, I was on the potion, Professor Snape brewed it himself, they’re always one hundred percent effective.”

“It may be caused by your being a Blue Mage,” he shrugged.

“Mr. Potter is correct, it is possible, you have very powerful magic in you, your bond with your mates, Messrs. Weasley, could have superseded the Contraception Potion,” Madam Pomphrey explained.

“No,” Hermione said. “It’s not possible, I’ve read the journal of the previous Blue Mage, she never once mentioned children or her mates giving her children, nor did she mention that their magic and bond has the ability to overtake Contraception Potions rendering them useless.”

“Whatever the reasons, Mrs. Weasley-Black, you have a child growing inside of you and it’s imperative that you’re in the best of health at all times, especially with the times ahead of us”

“Why didn’t the potion work?” she asked looking helpless.

“That’s a question I cannot answer.”

Hermione stood up from the bed and walked past Harry and Madam Pomphrey without another word, she didn’t remind them to keep it a secret, she knew Harry would never tell anyone, and Madam Pomphrey was bound by patient confidentially, especially since she was no longer a minor.

That morning she had received a note from Professor Dumbledore asking her to arrive at his office after the end of lunch, and given how long Hermione had been in the hospital wing, she assumed it was that time.

As she made her way down the halls and past the bustling crowds of students, she absentmindedly rested a protective hand against her stomach. She didn’t notice that when she reached the gargoyle stones marking Dumbledore’s office, the stairs appeared and she walked up them, nor did she notice someone open the door for her and she blindly walked through it and sat herself down in the chair opposite Dumbledore.

“You look as though something is troubling you, My Dear,” Dumbledore said.

Hermione snapped her head up and then looked around, realising where she was in surprise. She turned her eyes back to Dumbledore and his blue eyes were twinkling at her knowingly.

She turned her head only just noticing Professor Snape sat beside her.

“What did you do?” she asked him in a quiet voice.

“You’ll have to be more specific,” he drawled.

“What did you give me?”

“A Contraception Potion, the purpose is to...”

“I know what the purpose is,” she snapped, her shock and fear turning into anger. “What did you do to the potion?”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” he denied and her eyes narrowed further.

“I’m pregnant.” She got no response from either Dumbledore or Snape. “But you already knew that, didn’t you? It’s why you’ve been cutting me slack in class, it’s why whenever I felt the need to rush to the bathroom, you sent me without thought, without an issue, you knew I was pregnant, and the only way you could know that is if you knew the potion wouldn’t work.” She glared at him. “I will ask you one more time,” her voice turned cold and dark. “What did you give me?”

He looked at Dumbledore who nodded, still looking at her with those damn twinkling eyes.

“It was not a Contraception Potion as I lead you to believe.”

“You don’t say,” she snapped.

He ignored her outburst. “It was of the idea of Agents Comet and Jugulae that we keep you safe.”

“And why would they care about my safety? I am nothing to them.”

“They are closer to you than you think, and they do not want to see harm come to you.”

“What the hell is that supposed to mean? What did you give me?”

“It means that it was their idea that I give you a Fertility Potion to help improve your chances of conceiving. Myself and Albus agreed.”

“And what about what I want? What about Fred and George? You took that choice away from us; you are putting our child in danger. We’re in the middle of a war, I am a target and so are my family. How am I supposed to protect them when I’m pregnant? How am I supposed to protect them when my magic is unstable, without endangering the life of our child? You shouldn’t have done this. I’m too young to have a child; I only got married two months ago. We’re in dangerous times.”

“If you are pregnant you will be safe, you will go into hiding until the end of the war.”

“Like hell, I will! I will not abandon Harry, he needs me and you know he does,” she protested.

“He needs you safe.”

“No, he doesn’t, he needs me by his side, protecting him, helping him. You expect Ronald to help him; he’s an idiot, an idiot with a temper that will get them both killed. I will never forgive you for what you have done, either of you!” She stood up from her chair and turned to leave.

“Hermione?” She stopped, having never heard Dumbledore call her by her first name. “I asked you to come here because I need your help, Harry needs your help.”

She clenched her fists and took calming breaths, her magic was already out of control due to the pregnancy; it wouldn’t be good to add emotions into the mix.

She turned around. “What?”

He gestured to the seat; she narrowed her eyes but walked over to it and sat down.

“What do you know of Horcruxes?”

~000~000~000~

Hermione was waiting on the Astronomy Tower for Harry; she was pacing, back and forth, back and forth, a protective hand covering her stomach.

“You’ll make a wonderful mother,” Dumbledore’s voice cut through her thoughts.

“You have no right to say that to me,” she muttered. “Especially after what you’re about to put Harry through.”

“Hermione, what are you doing here?”

She looked up, seeing Harry stepping up the last step and walking over to them.

“We’re going on a field trip with Dumbledore, Horcrux hunting, he believes he’s found one. Let’s go,” she explained with a tight smile.

“Hermione, are you sure you should be going? You know, in your condition?” he said quietly, looking at Dumbledore in a sideways glance and not bothering to ask how she knew about the Horcruxes since he hadn’t known long himself.

“He knows, he knew before I did,” she bit out.

“How?” he asked shocked.

“I’ll tell you later, I just want to get this over and done with.” She took his hand and led him over to Dumbledore.

“Take my arm, Harry,” Dumbledore instructed. 

“Apparition? But you can’t apparate in Hogwarts,” he said confused.

“The perks of being Headmaster,” Dumbledore winked.

Before Hermione knew it she felt the familiar tug in her stomach, followed by the feeling of being squeezed through a tube. 

`~000~000~000~

**The Cave**

They landed on a large rock sat in the middle of a sea, the water crashing against the edge face and lapping over the sides dangerously, the wind was blowing wildly, as if knowing of the dangers ahead and it was trying to warn her, trying to get her to leave. She was glad she had the thought to tie her hair up out of her face.

“What are we doing here, Professor?” Harry shouted over the wind.

“The cave, Harry,” he replied.

“What cave?”

Dumbledore lifted his hand and gestured to a point in front of them. They turned their heads and squinted their eyes and they could only just make out the shadows of a cave mouth.

“What’s in there?”

“I believe a Horcrux.”

“How are we supposed to get over there?” Hermione yelled to be heard, the wind was getting more violent and she could feel it trying to physically push her away. “I’m assuming we can’t apparate.”

“You are correct; this is where I need your help.”

“And how am I supposed to help you, if you can’t apparate, neither can I?”

“Actually, you’ll find that you can, I have witnessed it.”

She looked at him confused before understanding crashed into her when she felt the wind pushing against her harder, making her stumble back.

“You want me to do what I did when Fred and George were attacked?” He nodded. “But I can’t; I haven’t done it since that day and I’ve never taken anyone with me before, I don’t know what would happen.”

“You can bypass the wards protecting the entrance to the cave, you know how to do it; you have it in you.”

She sighed realising that he wasn’t going to let it go. When the wind pushed against her once more, once again more forcefully, she closed her eyes and focused her breathing, commanding the wind around her to do as she wished, she could hear it whistling loudly and when she opened her eyes it was too see Harry looking at her in awe, Dumbledore smiling knowingly and Hermione staring at a cave wall.

“Well done, Mrs. Weasley-Black,” he praised, before taking out a knife.

“What the hell are you doing?” She eyed him carefully.

“Harry, do you see anything different about this wall?” Dumbledore gestured to the wall in front of them.

Harry titled his head to the side and raised his hand to touch the wall. “An illusion, it’s an illusion, isn’t it, Professor?”

“Yes, My Boy, it is, and it requires a blood sacrifice.” He brought the knife up to his palm.

“Let me do it,” Harry said quickly.

“No, Harry, your blood is much more important than mine,” he said, before slicing his hand open and smearing his blood across the wall face. They watched as it glowed before the wall disappeared from view.

It was pitch black, they could hear the water running and the only thing they could see was a podium standing seemingly in the middle of nothing, a bright green light emitting from it.

With a flick of his wand, Dumbledore sent a large ball of light into the air; it floated, lighting up the way. The podium was stood on a rock in the middle of the water, with no way to get to it.

“How are we supposed to get to it?” Harry asked.

Dumbledore looked to her expectantly.

She sighed. “I’ll see what I can do,” she frowned in thought.

She couldn’t use wind since there wasn’t enough open space and she didn’t want to accidentally cause any damage that would have the potential to backfire on them, so she had to think of another way. She went through a list of elements in her head.

Wind was already out, fire would be useless, as would quintessence, which just left water and earth. She tilted her head to the side, water, there was water and there was a lot of it.

She bent down on one knee and held her hand over the water, she saw it rise up and gently caress her fingers before it dropped back down, and with that action, she knew it would do what she was asking. She stood back up and took Harry’s hand again, and he took hold of Dumbledore’s arm when she told him to.

“How are you going to get us over there?”

Her answer was to take a step forward.

“Hermione, no!” But his words fell on deaf ears when she just looked at him with a raised eyebrow.

She tugged him forward and he expected to fall into the water, to drown, but he didn’t. He looked down seeing that he was, in fact, standing on water and not floating above it, actually standing on it!

“Next time someone says that people treat you like you walk on water, you can say that you actually have,” she grinned at him.

“You’re crazy, brilliant, but crazy,” he said with a laugh of disbelief and she neither denied it nor yelled at him for insulting her.

“Let’s go,” Dumbledore spoke and they all walked over to the podium, stepping up onto the rock that barely had enough room for them all.

Hermione turned away knowing what was about to happen and she didn’t wish to see it.

“Harry, I must drink this poison, no matter how much I beg and plead, you must force me to keep drinking,”

“But...”

“No, you must make sure this task is done.”

Harry looked over to Hermione and she gave a nod before looking away again. And it began, first she heard nothing, but then the begging started, followed by the pained cries, the screams, the pleading that Harry stop, but to his credit, Harry didn’t. He did exactly as he was told to do for the first time in life.

Hermione pressed her hands over her ears, muffling the sounds and she squeezed her eyes shut tightly, when she heard the sounds quieten she slowly opened her eyes and took her hands away from her ears, hearing only quiet cries, but her eyes were focused on the water; she could’ve sworn she saw something move.

“Water, water!” Dumbledore begged.

Hermione heard Harry’s footsteps before a shout of ‘Aquamenti’, followed by another and another.

“It’s not working!” he said panicked.

She saw movement again, she was sure of it. There was definitely something wrong. She turned around to see Harry about to disturb the water.

“Harry, don’t!” she called out, but it was too late.

A hand reached out and grabbed Harry’s wrist and it dragged him into the water.

“HARRY!” She yelled in panic and she noticed Dumbledore reaching for his wand.

He was weak; whatever he was going to do he would need strength for, meaning he had to wash the poison out of his system. Without bringing herself anywhere near the edge of the rock, she raised her hand, water molecules raised into the air and they moved over to Dumbledore, he opened his mouth and the molecules turned back into liquid form when they touched his tongue.

Hermione immediately noticed a change in him. His was no longer sickly pale, his form had stopped shaking and he grabbed his wand, standing tall and strong. Hermione’s attention quickly went back to the water, her eyes darting about and searching for Harry, and that’s when she noticed the forms of Inferi, creatures she had only read about, beginning to climb the rock.

All of a sudden a flame was thrown from Dumbledore’s wand and it quickly transformed into a whip made of flames, he waved it over his head and she noticed the Inferi retreating into the water in fear.

She knew what she had to do; she rested her hand against her stomach before taking a deep breath and running, diving off the edge of the rock and into the water.

The cold water was a shock to her system and she had to force herself not to gasp and breathe in the water, she summoned the air around her, bringing it to her, giving her the ability to breathe and it was one less thing she had to worry about.

She spun around searching for Harry, and she found him. He was being dragged further and further down, the fight in him was leaving; he was struggling to breathe, struggling to break free and she had to get to him before it was too late.

She propelled herself forward easily, the water not working against her, but with her upon her command.

She reached Harry in record time and summoned the air in the water around him, he took a deep inhale of oxygen and Hermione pulled her wand, casting an Incendio, scaring away the Inferi that had a strong grip on Harry. She grabbed his hand before pointing her wand, “Ascendio,” she called.

The two of them were propelled upwards and out of the water, before they could land and injure themselves, Hermione summoned the air in the form of her tornado and it caught them both, bringing them back to the rock and landing on their feet gently.

Hermione looked at Dumbledore. “Let’s get out of this bloody place.”

He nodded in agreement.

Before she did anything else she raised her hand and scrunched up her face in concentration, suddenly the water was lapping over the edges of the rock they stood on and it shook violently, as thunder rumbled and echoed.

“What are you doing?” Harry yelled over the noise.

“Making sure no one can access this cave of terrors again!” she yelled back, just as the walls of the cave began to crumble, large portions of stone crashing into the water in an avalanche.

Hermione got them out of there before they could be hurt, she landed on the rock they had first arrived on and she watched in satisfaction as the cave was slowly no more, only water.

“You scare me sometimes,” Harry admitted, looking at her both in awe and fright.

“Good, if I scare you, I scare Voldemort,” she replied. “Let’s get back.”

She saw that Dumbledore was weaker than when they arrived, she didn’t trust him to apparate without splinching himself, let alone both her and Harry and so she took them both back to the Astronomy Tower with her tornado.

~000~000~000~

**Hogwarts**

They landed and Harry sagged in relief.

“Well, that was eventful,” he spoke. She snorted at him.

“Thank you for accompanying me,” Dumbledore spoke tiredly.

“We have to get you to Madam Pomphrey,” Harry spoke, only now realising just how weak Dumbledore was.

“No...”

They all turned their heads when they heard footsteps approaching.

“It’s time,” he spoke to Hermione, Harry looked confused. “You know what must be done.”

She nodded solemnly. “Do everything Dumbledore tells you, Harry,” Hermione warned before she disappeared from view in her tornado.

“What’s she talking about? What’s going on?”

“Severus, Harry, speak only to Severus.”

“What’s happ...”

The footsteps grew closer.

“Hide yourself below, Harry, you must not be seen or heard by anyone without my permission. Whatever happens, it is imperative that you stay below.” Harry just stared at him. “Harry, do as I say; trust me.”

~000~000~000~

Hermione had sent a message to Sirius that he must bring as many Order members to Hogwarts as possible when it was breached by Death Eaters.

She received panicked yells from Sirius as she sent out messages to D.A. members and as she ran through the corridors, sealing all the entrances to the common rooms shut, protecting the vulnerable students.

She spread the word through the portraits and ghosts about what was happening and just as she reached the third floor, she came across Bellatrix walking along the corridor and blowing out the glass of the windows.

Hermione felt anger fill her. How dare she be at Hogwarts? How dare she defile the castle that had been home to thousands of witches and wizards? That had protected them? That had magic flowing through the very foundations? How dare she harm something so beautiful and pure?

In her anger, she was distracted and she barely dodged the familiar green light that Bellatrix sent in her direction.

How dare she try and harm her whilst she was pregnant?

“This is not a fight that you can win,” Hermione said coldly, vaguely registering Sirius alerting her to the Order arriving and patrolling the castle for Death Eaters.

Bellatrix cackled madly. “A mere Mudblood is no match for me!” she spat.

Hermione didn’t respond to the slur which only seemed to enrage Bellatrix further, she cast another Killing Curse which Hermione used her tornado to deflect. She heard a heartbreaking scream and she closed her eyes, she knew that it had happened and she now had a job to do.

Without thought Hermione turned and ran, leaving behind the taunts of Bellatrix. She ran through the castle, searching, but she couldn’t find him. It was when she ran into Sirius that she was hugged tightly and checked for injuries, that she asked him what she needed to know.

He pointed her in the direction of the entrance courtyard and she promised they would meet up at the hospital wing where most of the casualties were.

She didn’t bother wasting time running, she used her tornado and appeared in the courtyard in a matter of seconds.

She found Harry and Snape duelling, as Bellatrix cackled and dragged Draco away by the arm, followed by several gleeful Death Eaters.

Hermione noticed the dark mark, the skull and snake floating in the sky in that hideous green colour that depicted the same green as the Killing Curse. It shouldn’t be there!

Hermione’s eyes cut to Draco, and as if feeling her stare, he looked over his shoulder and his eyes found hers. Without thought, she summoned her tornado and disappeared from view. Draco knowing what was coming struggled to free his arm from Bellatrix; he broke free and stumbled backwards.

“Draco, what are you doing?” she asked, her head tilted to the side in a confused gesture and her eyes alight with glee at Dumbledore being dead.

“My task is done, I don’t have to go with you,” he said defiantly.

Bellatrix’s eyes hardened. “What would the Dark Lord say about your disobedience?”

“I don’t care about that mad man!” he spat out.

“You will not speak about your Master that way,” she hissed.

“I have no Master, only family, family that has shown me nothing but kindness and love.”

“Love is for the weak!”

“Actually, you’re wrong,” Hermione’s voice chimed. They all spun around to see her smiling smugly. “I see you’ve finally finished the vanishing cabinet, took you long enough,” she said to Draco.

“Cheeky witch, I should jinx you,” he muttered.

“But you can’t and you love me,” she said sweetly.

“You’re a blood traitor!” Bellatrix snarled, realising what the interaction between the two teens meant. She raised her wand and pointed it at Draco.

Hermione disappeared from view before reappearing in front of Draco; she took his arm and looked to the Death Eaters, who looked shocked at her ability to move freely on Hogwarts’ grounds.

“That’s right, Prats, I can leave Hogwarts’ grounds, even through the wards. You should be afraid, very afraid,” she smirked, before disappearing from view and taking Draco with her.


	28. Chapter 28

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Page count: 11

**Hogwarts – Monday 30th June 1997**

Hermione appeared back onto the grounds of Hogwarts almost an hour after she had left and taken Draco with her. Now that she was sure he was safe, she made her way through the castle and to the hospital wing, knowing that was where she would likely find her family.

The hospital wing was buzzing with activity, the beds filled with the injured and surrounded by their friends and loved ones, poor Madam Pomphrey was rushing about like a chicken without a head, trying to see to patients and administer the correct forms of treatment.

Towards the front of the hospital wing were beds filled with D.A and Order members, supporting various injuries and wounds. Hermione’s eyes landed on that of her family at the back of the hospital wing.

Sirius was quietly whispering with Arthur and Molly, who were sat in two chairs close by Bill’s bed, he sat up with his soon to be wife, Fleur, sat beside him, they only had eyes for each other. She noticed several painful-looking wounds on his face and she felt anger flare-up in her. Bill was her family, her brother-in-law, she might not have been as close to him as she was with some of the Weasley’s, bar Ron and Ginny of course, but he was still family. He was always friendly and welcoming when speaking to her, he treated her like family, he teased her like one would a little sister.

Hermione’s eyes then fell on the hospital bed opposite Bill’s, the curtains were drawn and she could hear nothing, likely having a Silencing Charm around it, but due to the shadows she could see moving, she knew there were two people hidden behind them. She could not see Harry anywhere. Her eyes scanned the room and she felt relief flood through her.

Her breath was knocked out of her and her stomach gave a hard tug, her hand came up to rest on her stomach and she stumbled slightly. It was her husbands, Fred and George, the two men she had been craving to be in the presence of for two months now. They were pacing back and forth, passing each other in the process.

Their work robes were askew, their hair messier than usual, though if it was caused by the battle or the constant running of their hands through it in frustration was anyone’s guess. She was glad to see that they didn’t appear to be injured, anxious and jittery, but not injured.

When she couldn’t take the need to be close to them any longer, she quickly ran from the doors to the back of the hospital wing, she noticed Sirius smile at her from the corner of her eyes, but her sole focus was on her husbands.

As if knowing she was there, they stopped pacing and their heads swooped around to look at her, startlingly fast. Relief and joy lit up their faces and she visibly saw their bodies relaxing, before she barrelled into them, almost knocking them both off their feet, but they didn’t mind. Wrapping their arms around her and hugging her tightly between them, she felt her stomach fluttering and her heart clenched. She could feel their bodies pressed against hers, she could smell the scent of smoke and mint that always seemed to follow them, she could feel their magic swarming her, she could feel them through the bond that only they shared.

It was the squirming in her stomach that made her realise it was the baby, their baby growing inside of her that had craved the presence of her husbands. Their baby that was slowly growing inside of her, it was calling for their fathers.

She finally noticed the twins mumblings of incoherent words, their faces pressed into either side of her neck and she noticed that their grip on her had tightened almost painfully.

“I’m alright, I promise you, I have no injuries and I am completely fine.” She spoke softly.

“Where the hell were you?” they both muttered.

“I had to get Draco back to Grimmauld. I made a detour to Malfoy Manor before coming here.”

“WHAT?” they both yelled, pulling back to look at her in disbelief, she winced when she noticed they had drawn the attention of most in the room.

“I made a promise to Draco, remember?” they looked at her, still in disbelief at what had what she had told them. “I promised to protect his mother,” she reminded them. “I didn’t put myself in danger, the manor was sparsely occupied by Death Eaters, there were more house-elves than there were humans and He wasn’t there. I had to collect his mother and I took her to the safe house we set up, the house-elves are packing up any essential belongings of both Draco and his mother and they will be moving them to the safe house, before Bellatrix returns to the manor, any trace of Narcissa Malfoy will be long gone. I was only there ten minutes, that’s all, I promise you I was in no danger, I had Dobby check before I went inside and I had Draco with me.”

They didn’t seem to be pleased with the news of her entering the headquarters of the dark side, but they let the subject drop, pulling her back to them and hugging her tightly.

They didn’t bother telling her about the death of Dumbledore, they knew that she already knew and they didn’t question how. The mark of the dark mark in the sky let everyone in seeing distance know about his murder.

“Where’s Harry?” she asked them.

“He was checked over for injuries and then he left, he said he needed some space,” Fred told her and she nodded in understanding.

“Who’s behind the curtain?” she asked, conversationally.

She heard them chuckle lightly and she smiled to herself at the sound, the sound she had come to love and she hadn’t heard in months.

“Remus and Tonks, she shouted at him, slapped him and then climbed onto his lap and snogged him,” George answered.

She snorted. “About time, it was downright awkward being in the room with them, the sexual tension could’ve been cut with a blunt butter knife.” They chuckled at her.

Slowly she pulled away from her husbands and looked up at them both, their turquoise eyes shining in the way she adored and made her feel as if she was melting into a puddle on the floor. She had to tell them, she would need to tell Sirius too, she would wait till they back at Grimmauld, she knew they would have to move as soon as possible, it was for that reason she had asked Kreacher to pack up anything of importance, value or anything that would be dangerous if it fell into the wrong hands -mainly the extensive collection of dark and illegal books in the library- and transport it to the cottage, which was newly unplottable and under the Fidelius with Charlie Weasley being the Secret Keeper.

Since he spent far less time with the Weasley family than the rest of them, and the fact that he lived in a different country, Romania, made him less of a suspect and it was agreed upon by Hermione, the twins and Sirius that it was the best option. Charlie was honoured to be trusted with such a secret, with such a responsibility that he had promptly swept Hermione up into a hug and much to the surprise of her father and husbands, she laughed and hugged him back without issue.

Hermione took the hands of her husbands and she pulled them in the direction of her father, Sirius noticed and met them halfway, she quickly hugged him and was relieved to see that he was injury-free, though if that was because he had already been healed or he wasn’t injured at all was unknown to her.

“I’m glad to see that you’re okay.” He whispered to her.

“Yeah, me too.” She replied.

She pulled back from him and gestured for the three of the four most important men in her life to follow her to an empty cubicle. They looked at her curiously but went without question, she drew the curtains closed and cast a Silencing Charm around them.

“Okay, I have something incredibly important to tell you, I’m not sure how you’re going to take the news, but I can’t tell you here, I’ll wait until we get back to Grimmauld,” they looked like they wanted to argue with her so she quickly continued. “We have to get going as soon as possible, Snape knows the whereabouts of Grimmauld and with the Secret Keeper no longer living, the Fidelius is broken and therefore can be entered by anyone that can break through the wards. Kreacher is already packing everything up and sending it to The Cottage; we need to be out before anyone can have the chance to surprise us with an attack.”

Sirius shrugged. “Hopefully they’ll burn the place down without bothering to go inside, take the Old Bag with it.”

“It may hold bad memories, Sirius, but it holds good ones too,” Hermione said softly, “it’s thanks to Grimmauld that I had a home, somewhere safe, somewhere I knew no one could hurt me, where I knew you would be safe. I understand your dislike for the place, but I will still miss it, that has been the only place that has been home to me in a long time, a place where I wasn’t judged.”

He looked at her thoughtfully and slowly nodded, but didn’t respond.

“Right then, the plans are set into motion, I took Draco with me to Malfoy Manor, it took a good five minutes to pry his mother off him,” they chuckled despite the situation, “I understand that she hasn’t seen him since September but we were on a schedule and there was no time for dallying around. It took me a further five minutes to quickly explain my relationship with Draco, and his relationship with The Order and The Weasleys and Blacks. She looked like she was about to faint and before she could protest, I took her to the safe house with a promise of house-elves bringing her some belongings and her seeing Draco again. He is at Grimmauld helping Kreacher to pack up anything that we don’t want Death Eaters getting a hold of. It’s best if we’re out of there by tomorrow at the latest.”

They nodded. “Dumbledore’s funeral is tomorrow,” Sirius spoke. Hermione looked down at the ground. “None of us will be attending, we’ll be putting ourselves in a vulnerable situation. We have to get Harry back to the Dursley’s by tonight so that he will be safe since we can’t risk the Hogwarts Express being stopped. Molly and Arthur will be taking Ron and Ginny back to The Burrow, along with Bill and Fleur tonight, you, I and the twins will be heading back to Grimmauld, we’ll make sure that everything we need is packed up and then head to the Cottage, you’ll be safe there.”

They noticed a look of anger and betrayal enter her eyes at the last statement but it quickly vanished.

“Okay, I’ll take Harry back to The Durselys, my way of travelling is untraceable and it doesn’t require several apparition stops, I’ll leave the Dursleys with a few choice words to make sure they leave him alone for the rest of the summer,” that received smirks from the three men and knowing looks been sent between them. “Has a decision been reached?” she asked her father, he knew to what she was referring to.

“Not exactly, we’re still in the planning stages, we believe we may have a way but it needs more preparation and contingency plans before we make a decision.” She nodded.

“We better get moving, I’ll see to Harry and get him home, no doubt Dobby has already packed our trunks up for us, if so he knows where to send them, I’ll make a detour and send Hedwig back to the Durselys, you explain the plan to the others, and I’ll meet you all back at Grimmauld.” They nodded at her, accepting the plan. She quickly hugged her father and kissed his cheek, before hugging and kissing the twins chastely.

They all stepped out behind the curtains and separated, each going off to carry out their own tasks.

Hermione left the hospital wing after quickly assuring The Weasley parents that she was fine and she made her way to the one place she knew where Harry would be.

~000~000~000~

**The Astronomy Tower**

He had been going there for years when things got too much for him, it was also the place where she knew he had witnessed Dumbledore dying.

She approached Harry and stood next to him, leaning forward against the railing and looking out and up at the stars, thankful that the dark mark was no longer present, thankful that it had been banished. Everything was eerily quiet, as if Hogwarts and its grounds were in mourning for its beloved Headmaster.

Harry slowly turned his head to look at her. He looked so defeated and scared, it broke her heart and she flung her arms around him and pulled him into a hug.

He clung to her tightly, his sister in everything but blood, Hermione could feel him trembling and she hugged him tighter, making comforting sounds and rubbing his back.

“He’s dead,” he whispered.

“I know,” she said softly.

“You knew, didn’t you? You knew what was going to happen.”

“Not entirely, I knew what was to happen when Draco finished his task of completing the Vanishing Cabinet. It opened up a passageway into Hogwarts, with its connection to its sister in Borgin and Burkes, in Knockturn Alley. Dumbledore has been aware of Draco’s task since I brought him to Grimmauld for Christmas, since before that actually. Dumbledore made it clear that his task was to be completed, no matter what. He asked me to visit his office after lunch, he divulged some information, I could guess as to what its true meaning was, but I knew I was right. Dumbledore knew he was going to die and made me promise not to interfere.”

“Why didn’t he fight back, he’s the most powerful wizard alive?”

“He was dying Harry,” she told him softly. “The Gaunt ring, Dumbledore destroyed it but he foolishly wore it, it was cursed, it was the reason his hand was black, he was dying. I know he’s left this massive burden on your shoulders, of saving the world, but I’ll help you.” They pulled back from each other and leaned against the railing.

“I’m leaving, I have to, I have to finish what we started.” He stated, she noticed he was clutching the locket in his hand.

“I know,” she said sadly. “I want to come with you. I can help you in more ways than one.”

“No,” he shook his head. “It’s too dangerous, you need to stay hidden, with you being The Blue Mage and being pregnant, you can’t be put in any situation that will result in injury or risk the life of you or your baby.”

“That’s why I’m pregnant,” Hermione whispered.

“What?” he asked, clearly confused.

“I’m pregnant because Dumbledore and Snape interfered. That Contraception Potion Snape gave me, it was actually a Fertility Potion.” He gaped at her. “They wanted me out of the way, apparently it was decided that I shouldn’t be with you through this so they made sure that I would not able to help you, but I promise you, Harry, I will help you in any way that I can, whether I’m with you or not. As much as I dislike the situation, you should take Ronald with you, you know he’d follow you, I don’t want you being alone and it’s easier for two people to survive when they have someone to rely on, to keep them company, to keep them going. Since we don’t know anything useful I’ll spend my time doing research, I have access to the entire Black Library. We’ll make rendezvous points and meet up every so often, I’ll bring supplies and relay any information that I have to you. That’s how I’ll help you, even if I’m not there in person, I’ll be there in spirit.”

He looked at her and she could see the relief clear as day on his face.

“Everything here will be taken care of, the twins and I will be at The Cottage along with Sirius, it’s now unplottable and under the Fidelius. The Weasleys should be safe at the Burrow, if not, there are safe houses in place. Narcissa Malfoy is in a safe house and Draco is helping to pack up Grimmauld and then he’ll be going there to be with his mother until it’s safe for him to leave, he’s now officially a blood traitor, and not just any blood traitor, a Malfoy.”

He handed her a note he pulled out of his pocket. She looked at it curiously before opening the aged parchment, staring at the words of the faded ink.

_To The Dark Lord,_

_I know I will be dead long before you read this but I want you to know that it was I who discovered your secret. I have stolen the real Horcrux and intend to destroy it as soon as I can. I face death in the hope that when you meet your match, you will be mortal once more._

_R.A.B._

“This isn’t even the real Horcrux,” she frowned. “Who the hell is R.A.B? How does he know about Horcruxes? How did he know where it was hidden in the first place?” she huffed, rubbing her temples in irritation. Why wasn’t anything ever easy?

He shrugged. “No, idea.”

She sighed. “I’ll take the locket and start researching immediately, maybe I can use it to figure out the whereabouts of the true Horcrux and who this R.A.B is, even better, maybe it’ll help me discover the others.” He nodded and handed the locket to her, which she stuffed into her pocket along with the note.

“I’m taking you back to The Durselys,” he hated it there but nodded. “The Order’s working on a plan to retrieve you before your seventeenth birthday, you’ll be there less than a month, obviously there won’t be any contact between you and the Wizarding World, so you’ll effectively be on your own. Take this time to get as much rest as you can, and go through all of your Charms and Defence books, learn about as many spells as possible, you never know when they’ll be useful, the simplest spells can save your life. You need to prepare for the coming months. Don’t you dare leave without Ronald, you know he’ll go with you and I’ll track you down and flay you alive.”

Without giving him the chance to argue, she took his hand and they left the castle in the tornado surrounding them.

~000~000~000~

**12 Grimmauld Place**

Hermione quickly entered the house, looking behind her and checking for anyone watching her, for good measure, she cast a Revealment Charm and she sighed when she counted only four magical signatures surrounding the house, there were only four people it could’ve been and so she was relieved that no one was watching them.

She made her way to the living room where she found the twins and Sirius talking between them, they looked up when she entered, once more looking relieved that she was fine.

“Harry’s safe, the Durselys will leave him be, I’ve given them their warning, they were practically wetting themselves by the time I left.” They chuckled at her. “Is everything ready to be moved?” she asked.

She looked around the room seeing that recently framed photographs were no longer in the room but everything else was, including the furniture.

“Yes, Kreacher had everything we needed packed up by the time we arrived, he’s transported it all over to the Cottage and he’s unpacking it as we speak,” her father answered.

“Dobby came for Malfoy five minutes ago and he’s taken him to his mother.” She nodded at Fred’s answer to the question she hadn’t been given time to ask.

Suddenly, the three men’s expressions changed, they all stared at her with determination and crossed their arms in synchronicity, which admittedly, was unnerving.

“Now, what is it that you need to tell us?” George asked her, she shuffled on her feet and her hands shook lightly.

The best way for her to do it was to blurt it out before she lost the never, she was a Gryffindor after all.

“I’m pregnant!” she was met with silence.

“I’m sorry, could you say that again?” George said with a crinkle in his brow.

“I’m pregnant, just over two months if my math's correct.” She admitted.

She was expecting disbelief, anger, confusion, even fainting, especially fainting. But no, what she got were two yells of joy and beaming smiles as she was picked up and spun around, by each of her husbands before she was pressed tightly between them and being peppered with kisses.

Her face lit up with joy at their reactions.

“We’re going to be fathers,” Fred whispered in awe into her neck.

“We’re going to be fathers,” George mirrored his twin’s actions.

“You’re going to be fathers,” she repeated.

“Wait a minute,” Sirius said slowly, they pulled away from each other and Hermione saw the frown on his face, a confused look in eyes.

“You can’t be pregnant, you were on the Contraception Potion, you told me that you took it at the specified times.”

“I did, I never once missed a dosage and I didn’t stop taking it until after I returned to Hogwarts.” She admitted.

“Then how are you pregnant?” George asked, seeing Sirius’ point and they all looked at her confused. Anger and betrayal filled her eyes.

“Dumbledore and Snape,” she answered with a slight sneer.

“What do they have to do with anything?”

“They were under the impression that it was their decision as to how we participate in the ending of the war. It was under their impression that they saw to it that I would have no reason but to go into hiding and remain in hiding. They were under the impression that they had the right to make decisions in our lives, in our marriage, decisions that don’t concern them. It wasn’t a Contraception Potion they gave me, it was a Fertility Potion.”

Fred and George looked at her in disbelief. A loud noise made her jump and when she looked it was too see that Sirius had pulled his wand and blown a hole in the wall.

“They had no right!” he yelled in anger, his face twisted in a way she had never seen before. “They had no right to put you in danger. There haven’t been any recorded pregnancies with a Blue Mage before, for all we know that could be for a reason. Maybe The Blue Mage is not supposed to have children due to her responsibility to the world, maybe it’s because there’s so much magic in her it could kill the baby. They have not only put your life in danger, my daughter, but my grandchild’s too!” another bang, a cloud of smoke and there was another hole in the wall.

Hermione stilled in horror, her father was right, she hadn’t even thought of that. What if her magic killed their child? A child that was conceived without their knowledge, that was conceived under deception, but that she loved with all her heart already. How could she not, it was a product of her love, her bond with her husbands? It was a part of them.

She brought her hand up and rested it against her stomach and she turned her head when she felt two more hands cover hers, her husbands’.

“We won’t let anything hurt our baby,” Fred promised her, wiping away a tear softly, she hadn’t even realised that she had started crying.

“We will research this day and night and we won’t stop until we know that our baby is safe. Until we see our baby for the first time in seven months.” George said, his eyes boring into her.

“He’s right, George, I’ve read the entire journal of The Blue Mage before me, three times, front to back. There was no mention of anything to do with pregnancies and children, there was no mention of my predecessors having children or pregnancies either. If a Blue Mage had previously had a child, it would be on record, no one would miss that opportunity, that implies there’s never been a pregnancy. Is it because I’m to live till five hundred, not ageing for centuries, stopping my menstrual cycle? Is it because we are too powerful and our magic stops the development of the baby? Is it because it’s too dangerous for me to risk dying in childbirth if there are complications? They’ve put our baby at risk, not only because of the unknown, but because of the unknown certainty of the future, of the war.”

“We will not let anything happen to you or our baby.” Her husbands promised her.

“I’ll hire the best private healer that there is,” Sirius spoke, pacing back and forth and running his hands through his hair. “Even if we make them take an Unbreakable Vow, there’s a way to get around it, so they’d have to stay at the Cottage full time, so that they cannot be captured and information pulled from their mind.” Hermione and the twins looked at each other. “They’ll have to leave everything behind, I’ll need someone that doesn’t have a family or girlfriend, someone that wouldn’t be missed if they were to go missing.” He spoke, but mainly to himself. They didn’t have a choice in the matter, they knew he was right, what happened was a betrayal, but they couldn’t focus on that, they had to focus on making sure their baby was taken care of.

“Who else knows about your pregnancy?” Sirius suddenly asked, looking at her, well, seriously.

“Harry knows, he took me to the hospital wing. He knew something wasn’t right, I just assumed it was my body dealing with the stress of everything and missing the twins. When he heard I haven’t been able to keep any food down for the last three weeks he took me to see Madam Pomphrey. We found out I’m pregnant, so she knows too. Dumbledore knew, Snape knows, he wasn’t surprised when I revealed the news to him, I quickly figured out why. He’s been very lenient with me lately, he never once sneered at me or gave me detention when I had a sudden wave of nausea or when I was late to class because I had to run to the bathroom in-between classes. He didn’t kick me out of his class when my magic suddenly flared up and I couldn’t control it, accidentally creating a miniature hurricane in his classroom. He knew, he knew long before I did and that’s when I figured out he had known all along. And now you three know.” She told them.

“We have to get you to The Cottage now,” Sirius said quickly, walking over to the window and peaking out behind the curtains, looking to see if the house was being watched. “If Snape knows, Voldemort knows, I knew that traitorous bastard couldn’t be trusted, once a Death Eater, always a Death Eater,” he said angrily. “He did this for a reason, by giving you that Fertility Potion he has made you vulnerable to attack, he has made sure you will not be able to fight for the Order, they’ve taken you out of the equation, our most powerful member and protector. He’s made you dangerous, a regular magical pregnancy can be hell on the mother’s magic, I can’t even begin to imagine what it would do to your magic.” The twins squeezed her hand, still covering her stomach.

“How the fuck did he even think of this?” he fumed.

“Us,” their heads all snapped up to see two cloaked figures standing in front of the living room door, before anyone could blink, four wands were trained on the two figures, though Sirius and the twins had moved to shield Hermione, much to her annoyance.

The two figures raised their hands in surrender, showing they were not a threat.

“Who are you? How did you get in here?” Sirius demanded, a dangerous glint in his eyes.

The Fidelius may have been broken, but there were still wards around the house. Sirius and Hermione could enter being Blacks, the twins being married to Hermione and Draco due to having Black blood in him.

If the figures in front of them had gotten in it meant the wards had been broken and they were likely surrounded by Death Eaters. They would have to fight their way out and they all steeled themselves at the realisation.

“We mean you no harm, you wish to know how Severus thought to give a Fertility Potion to Lady Black, well, it was our idea.”

“Comet and Jugulae,” Hermione spoke up, realising that the two figures were the Unspeakables. Sirius’ tilted his head slightly, letting her know he had heard her.

“Admitting that isn’t going to save you,” Sirius spat, his knuckles going white from his grip on his wand. “You’ve signed my daughter’s death certificate.”

“We did it to protect her, this is the only way that she would go into hiding, that she would be safe and out of danger of injury. Out of the eye of the public, she will be safe from You-Know-Who.” Comet explained.

“And why do you care what happens to my daughter?”

“She is Lady Black.”

“She is nothing to you.”

“We want nothing more than to protect her,” Jugulae admitted.

Hands suddenly reached up and gripped at the hoods of the cloaks and they were lowered.

“Merlin!” Hermione whispered in surprise at the two Unspeakables in front of her, their identities now revealed.


	29. Chapter 29

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Page count: 12

**12 Grimmauld Place – Monday 30th June 1997**

“It can’t be, that’s impossible,” Hermione whispered, her eyes wide in disbelief and without thought she lowered her wand.

Sirius’ wand hand shook slightly, he had paled considerably and swayed on his feet. The only two unaffected by the revelation were the twins, who looked more confused than they did shocked, but their stance never wavered.

The two Unspeakables were evidently related. The one was taller than the other, older too, with short black hair and dark brown eyes, he had angular features and a pale complexion. The smaller Unspeakable had identical dark brown eyes and angular features, with a straight nose and pale complexion. The difference was the hair, black and wavy that fell to his shoulders. The resemblance to Sirius was uncanny.

As soon as Hermione had laid eyes on them, she instantly knew who they were, she had seen portraits of them around Grimmauld, though these men had obviously aged, there was no denying they were Orion and Regulus Black, the deceased father and younger brother of Sirius Black. Her grandfather and uncle.

“Who the fuck are you?” Sirius snarled, taking a menacing step forward after gaining his bearings, his eyes were narrowed but Hermione could see the wariness in his body, and a small amount of hope in his eyes.

“Come on, Son, I think it’s fairly obvious _who_ we are,” the older man drawled, rolling his eyes.

“Give him a moment, Father,” the younger man chuckled, a teasing glint in his eyes. “My dear brother was always slow to recover, he wears his emotions on his face, he would’ve made a terrible Slytherin.” The other man tilted his head in concession.

“I said, who are you?” he bellowed.

“Daddy,” Hermione spoke softly, gaining his attention at the way she had addressed him. He knew she loved him, but it wasn’t often that she called him anything but his name. “I think I understand what’s happening here. Fred, George, please lower your wands, they’re not going to hurt me, or you for that matter,” Fred and George tilted their head in confusion. “It’s okay, I promise, if they even attempt to prove me wrong, my magic will act out and given the results of my accidental magic with pregnancy, I wouldn’t want to see the results of intentional magic.” They all saw the two men wince and nod in agreement with her words.

“One wrong move and you won’t live to see tomorrow,” George warned before he and his twin lowered their wands, but they didn’t put them away, keeping them held tightly in their hands by their sides.

“Fred, George, I would like to introduce you to Orion and Regulus Black, my grandfather and uncle, Sirius’ father and brother.” Their eyes widened and mouths dropped open.

The two Unspeakables snorted.

“Regulus,” he nodded in greeting, “Sirius’ younger and better looking brother.”

“Orion, ” he nodded in greeting, “Sirius’ father,” he said simply.

“But you’re dead,” Fred blurted out in surprise.

Hermione giggled at his reaction, the twins turned to her and their eyes softened at the sound, even more so when they noticed her holding a hand against her stomach, she didn’t even realise she was doing it.

“No, they faked their deaths, didn’t you?” she spoke knowingly.

“Rumours of your intelligence are outstanding, I am glad to see they are true,” her apparent grandfather said, with a proud smile.

“We did indeed fake our deaths,” Regulus nodded at his niece with a smile. “Father and I discussed leaving the ranks of Death Eaters long ago, neither of us wanted a part in destruction or mass murder, but we were bound to protect the House of Black, going against You-Know-Who wouldn’t have boded well for our family, better to ally yourself with the enemy than to oppose them, at least until we came up with a solution.”

“I am happy that I was able to save Sirius from the life of a Death Eater,” Orion spoke.

“You disowned him,” Fred pointed out.

“I did what I had to do to protect him, Walburga was a horrid woman, I was forced to marry her to complete the wedding arrangement, we had been set to marry from my tenth birthday, bound by a blood oath,” Orion said regretfully. “I never loved her, I was only in her presence long enough to carry out my duty of producing heirs, when that was complete, I kept my distance. I didn’t agree with the way she treated my children and I did what I could for them. Walburga banished Sirius out of hatred, I did it out of love,” he looked down at the floor, before looking up at Sirius’ shocked expression. “By disowning you, you were placed in the care of The Potters, a family I knew would give you the love and care Walburga didn’t, that I couldn’t show. You were safe with them, without being forced into You-Know-Who’s army, the best I could do for Regulus was keep him close by since he didn’t have friends such as yours.”

“We came up with a plan my final year, I would no longer be protected by Hogwarts and I would be given missions and be expected to attend revels,” Regulus spoke, “Father and I wanted to bring down You-Know-Who and it was best to do it from the inside, but we couldn’t be suspected. So we planned our deaths. Father was the first to ‘die’ and he became an Unspeakable since no one knows their true identity. He joined the Death Eaters and fed information to Dumbledore. We were waiting until I graduated, unfortunately, my plan was forced into action a little earlier than planned and I never got the change to graduate.”

“You ‘died’ on a mission for Him,” Sirius spat.

“No, I had learned of something,” Regulus looked at Hermione and she knew instantly, an imaginary light bulb flashing above her head.

“You’re R.A.B?” her eyes widened.

He smiled at her. “Yes, I am.” Her husbands and father looked confused.

“He borrowed Kreacher and when he returned him to me, he was almost dead. I healed him and had Kreacher take me to the cave, I discovered His secret and stole the locket, Inferi tried to pull me into the water and drown me, I used my animagus form to escape, and I ‘died’ taking on the identity of an Unspeakable, Agent Comet.”

“I should’ve figured it out,” Hermione shook her head, “Comet could’ve been anyone, but Jugulae is Latin for Orion’s Belt,” she sighed.

“Occam’s Razor,” Orion shrugged, Hermione stared at him in surprise at his words. He knew that Muggle theory?

“I informed Father of His secret and after You-Know-Who’s downfall we knew he would be back and so we continued with our lives as Unspeakables, until the day He returned, and when he did, we informed Dumbledore and we continued on our mission to bring him down from the inside.”

“Yeah, what is this secret you keep mentioning?” George asked, with a raised eyebrow.

They both looked at Hermione and she sighed.

“We have discovered that He is immortal.” She told them.

Fred snorted. “Love, there is no denying your intelligence, you’re smarter than the both of us combined, but that statement makes us worry that we may have to admit you to the Janus Thickey ward,” George spoke, whilst Fred hit him upside the head, making him scowl.

Hermione rolled her eyes at them. “He is immortal, there is an ancient and archaic form of magic that is so dark, the mere mention of it was wiped from the Wizarding World. Unfortunately, a few books were missed, but thankfully, only limited information is revealed in them. He found out about this information during his school years. The process involves committing murder and then splitting your soul and encasing it in an object, giving you immortality, it’s how he was only defeated and not killed.” They looked at her horrified, and Hermione noticed that Sirius had lowered his wand. “This,” she pulled out the locket from her pocket and allowed it to dangle from her finger, swaying back and forth gently. “This is what Dumbledore wanted Harry and me to accompany him to retrieve, it wasn’t easy and we hit a few obstacles on the way, but we managed to get it. I destroyed the cave before leaving, it is no longer there, just piles of rock and rubble at the bottom of the sea. Harry opened it and discovered the note, all that trouble was for nothing, I told him I would keep a hold of it and research it whilst I am in hiding, now I don’t have to find it. Did you destroy it?” she asked Regulus.

He frowned, “I’m afraid not, we’ve spent the years since His downfall searching for his others. We’re not sure how many he has, we’re not sure what they are or where they are hidden, but we believe we have a few potential leads. The only problem we’re having is that we can’t open the locket, and unless we open it, it can’t be destroyed. We’re not entirely sure on _how_ to destroy it either but we have a few theories that just may work.”

Hermione had a thoughtful look on her face.

“Do you have it? If I take a look at the real locket, I may be able to find something that you’ve missed, I may also be able to figure out a way to use the locket to track the other objects, giving us their location. We’ll have to take into account protective measures surrounding them, just as there was the locket.” Orion and Regulus shared a look.

“In all the years we’ve been searching, we never thought to use the locket to track the other objects,” Orion said proudly.

“Brightest Witch of the Age,” Fred said proudly, putting his arm around her shoulders, George’s hand slipped around her waist.

“You don’t actually believe them, do you?” Sirius asked incredulously, his wand now raised. “They could be imposters.”

Hermione titled her head. “No, I don’t think so, their story is just so ridiculous that I can’t imagine someone making it up, but you’re right, we should have proof before we divulge anything else and even consider trusting them. Kreacher,” she called.

“Mistress called, what can Kreacher do for the Mistress?” he asked bowing.

“Kreacher, please turn around,” Hermione said softly.

Kreacher stood and turned, his eyes widening immediately.

“Master Regulus!” he squealed in joy and he jumped up and down, clapping his hands enthusiastically, Hermione had never seen him so happy and full of life. Kreacher flung himself forward and wrapped himself around Regulus’ legs. “Kreacher, knew, Kreacher knew Master Regulus was alive, he did not believe Mistress Walburga,” he cried.

Regulus chuckled and patted Kreacher on his head.

“It’s them,” Hermione nodded.

“Very well,” Sirius snarled, putting his wand away before stepping forward. Before anyone saw it coming, Sirius brought his fist back and slugged Regulus across the face, he almost fell over and split Regulus’ lip. Hermione gasped in shock, the twins stared and fought down the urge to laugh.

“Sirius!” Orion scolded, but Sirius’ hand came to his nose, a crack echoing through the room as blood started to pour.

Orion held his nose and Regulus his mouth in shock. Sirius stepped back, cradling his hand, his knuckles split open.

“That was for endangering my daughter’s life,” he said with a glare.

“How the hell did we endanger her life?” Regulus demanded.

“You gave her a Fertility Potion without the permission of both her and her husbands.”

“We did that to protect her, if she was pregnant she would be taken into hiding and be out of the war and the public eye, she would be safe. She is reviving our House, she is our family and the Matriarch of our House, we would never harm her.”

“There has never been a reported case of a Blue Mage pregnancy,” Hermione spoke quietly, gaining their attention, the arms the twins had around her tightened on her. “Is it because I'm not supposed to have children due to my life span and no longer aging? Is it because I am too powerful and my magic could kill the baby? Is it because I risk dying in childbirth? Is it to protect me from emotional harm from having to watch my child die whilst I live on? Is it because it will wreak havoc on my already unpredictable magic? I can’t control it, I created a small hurricane in my classroom not too long ago, for no reason at all, it just happened. Your intentions to keep me safe may have very well derailed your plan.”

They looked down at the ground.

“I’m going to hire a private healer, someone that can stay with her every day, that will always be nearby. It will have to be someone that will take an Unbreakable Vow, someone that won’t be missed and therefore must not have any family or friends. I need someone that I can trust to be around my daughter and her husbands.” Sirius spoke gruffly.

“I’ll do it,” Regulus offered and all eyes snapped to him.

“What?” Hermione, the twins and Sirius all spoke.

“I said I’ll do it,” he repeated. “Sixteen years is a long time to wait for a war, as well as being an Unspeakable, I trained to be a healer; I thought it would be a useful advantage on our side.” He admitted.

“I trained to be a Curse Breaker,” Orion informed them.

“So, I’ll be your healer, better to keep it in the family,” he smirked.

“I am not letting you anywhere near there,” Hermione spoke horrified, a blush covering her cheeks.

Regulus paled considerably. “No, neither do I want to be anyway near _there_ ,” he grimaced, shifting on his feet. “I am your uncle after all. When the time comes to you going into labour, I’ll have a healer that I trust deliver the baby, whilst I focus my attention on you. You’re worried about the baby, I can do diagnostic spells now to check the health of the baby.”

Before anyone could answer, there were loud bangs coming from outside, Sirius rushed over to the window.

“Death Eaters!” Sirius said panicked. “They’re trying to get in, they must’ve broken through the wards and are now trying to enter the house.”

Everyone looked at each other.

“Kreacher,” Hermione spoke quickly, noticing that he was stood by Regulus. “Is everything of importance at The Cottage?”

“Yes, Mistress, Kreacher has not yet finished unpacking.”

“That quite alright, please take Regulus and Orion to the edge of the wards, I will meet you there as soon as possible.” They looked at her confused. “We have The Cottage under a Fidelius, I’ll have to visit the Secret Keeper to get you the address. Fred, George, Sirius, I’ll meet you there.” They all nodded and now that the wards were broken they could apparate out.

~000~000~000~

**The Cottage**

Hermione landed outside the wards of The Cottage twenty minutes later to see Regulus and Orion standing around looking bored.

“Sorry, I had to travel a while away and it took me longer than I thought it would.” She handed them two pieces of parchment and they read it aloud before Hermione took it and burned it into ash.

She wasn’t worried about them being able to enter The Cottage, even if they did betray them -which she was sure they wouldn’t- they wouldn’t be able to reveal their secret since they weren’t the Secret Keeper and they didn’t know who was.

“Take my hands, you can enter The Cottage but you can’t enter through the land wards, I’ll take us there, it’s a lot quicker.” They looked at her curiously but took her hands, Hermione conjured her tornado and they landed inside of her living room, everything the way she left it all those months ago.

She smiled at the sight and looked around happily.

“Welcome to my home,” she spoke, before letting go of their hands and going in search of her father and husbands, leaving them to explore.

She found them upstairs, Sirius was in his room looking around with a smile on his face. He had decorated it in Gryffindor colours, crests and banners. His queen-sized bed with red silk bedding, his wardrobe, bedside table and desk being light oakwood and light wooden flooring. It was simple but it suited him well. 

“I’m not even going to comment,” she muttered.

Fred and George entered the room, coming from two of the other bedrooms.

“We were just making sure the bedrooms were set up for our new guests,” Fred explained, wrapping his arms around her stomach and tugging her backwards and into him.

Sirius scowled. “You said so yourself, Sirius,” Hermione said softly, her eyes closed and revelling in being with her husbands after being away from them for so long. “If Regulus is to be my healer, he needs to be close by and I’m sure Orion won’t want to leave me either, I’m carrying the Heir to the House of Black after all.”

His expression softened at her words, and his eyes flickered down to her stomach before he could stop them.

“How are you feeling?” he asked her.

“Starving, I’ve barely eaten anything in three weeks and I’m exhausted since I haven’t been sleeping well either.”

“Kreacher,” Sirius called.

“Yes, Master,” he bowed without his usual sneer pointed at Sirius, much to the surprise of everyone and Hermione giggled at the look of disbelief on her father’s face, worse than finding out his brother and father were alive.

He cleared his throat. “Prepare dinner, Hermione hasn’t eaten recently and neither have we for that matter, it’s been a bust day.” Hermione glared at him. “Please,” he added.

“Of course, Master, Kreacher is happy to serve the noble and Most Ancient House of Black, and The Mistress and her child,” he grinned and popped away.

“That was weird,” George commented, taking hold of Hermione’s hand and running his thumb of her knuckles. “He didn’t even call us blood traitors.”

“He’s happy, he’s just found out that Regulus is alive, he adores him and if Regulus approves of us, Kreacher will too,” she shrugged.

“Are you sure you’re alright?” Sirius asked.

“Yes, I’m fi...” she didn’t finish the sentence as a sudden wave of nausea hit her. She pulled away from Fred and George and ran out of the room and to the closest bathroom, she just made it in time before she slumped to the ground and threw up.

She coughed and groaned, she felt hands rubbing her back in comfort and someone grabbed her hair as another wave hit her.

“Whatever Kreacher is making for dinner does not agree with the baby,” she groaned, pushing away from the toilet, flushing the chain and closing the toilet seat to sit on. Her head bent and her elbows resting on her knees.

“Here, Love,” George spoke, holding out a glass of conjured water for her. She took it and drank down as much as she could to get rid of the awful taste.

“Thanks,” she replied, handing the glass back. The leftover water in the glass suddenly exploded, the glass shattering into pieces, cutting George’s hand in the process and the water landing over George’s head.

Hermione gasped loudly and stood up.

“George, I'm so sorry,” she cried, tears welling up in her eyes.

“It’s okay, Love,” he smiled, taking his robes and pressing them into his hand to slow down the bleeding. “It wasn’t your fault, if our baby is capable of that after a couple of months, I can’t begin to imagine what it will be capable off in five years,” he chuckled shaking his head.

“What happened, we heard a noise?” Regulus and Orion entered the bathroom. They noticed they no longer had their injuries, Regulus must’ve healed them.

“The baby doesn’t like whatever Kreacher is cooking,” Fred shrugged. “Hermione made a beeline to the bathroom, after drinking some water, the glass shattered in George’s hand.”

“Let me see,” Regulus ordered, taking out his wand and taking George’s hand in his, seeing the deep gash across his hand.

“There doesn’t appear to be any glass in the wound, a simple charm and a coat of Dittany and it will be fine in an hour or so,” he spoke, before muttering under his breath and then pulling out a vial of Dittany from seemingly out of nowhere.

A few drops on George’s palm and he winced, Regulus wrapped a bandage around his palm and then stepped back.

“There, as I said, an hour or so and it should be fine.”

“Thanks,” George spoke, going over to an upset Hermione, hugging her tightly and whispering to her.

“I didn’t mean to,” she cried.

“It wasn’t your fault,” George promised her.

“Maybe it’s time I cast those diagnostic spells,” Regulus spoke up.

Before anyone could speak, another wave of nausea hit Hermione and she once again found herself with her head in the toilet.

Sirius, Regulus and Orion grimaced, whilst the twins attended to her.

“Oh, Merlin, what is he cooking?” Hermione groaned into the toilet.

“Yeah, I think it’s time,” Fred agreed. He then turned to Hermione. “Come on, Princess, we’ll go downstairs.”

“I don’t want to move,” she muttered.

“Come on, we’ll make sure Kreacher makes something else for you, we’ll put a charm around you so you can’t smell the rest of the food.”

“I don’t want to move, I’m tired,” she muttered.

“You can sleep after you’ve eaten, I promise,” Fred picked her up and she wrapped her hands around his neck, burrowing her head. They all made their way downstairs.

“Is there anything you want, anything you’re craving?” George asked her.

“No, I just want something that won’t make me throw up,” she grumbled.

“Try crackers and ginger tea, they’re good for pregnant women,” Regulus piped up.

“It’s weird that you know that.”

“I am a healer,” he shrugged.

“So is Madam Pomphrey, yet she only knows the Pregnancy Charm.”

“I had mentors in different departments, Madam Pomphrey likely only had a mentor in A&E and common illnesses. I had mentors in A&E, curses and spell damage, creature induced injuries, potions and poisonings and midwifery.”

“Overachiever,” Sirius mumbled.

“It’s going to save her life,” Regulus replied.

“Her life wouldn’t need saving if you hadn’t have stuck your large beak in her marriage,” Sirius snarled, turning around to face him.

“Daddy, please don’t, you’ll have your time to talk later, but right now I want to know if my baby’s alright.”

“Of course, Kitten,” he said softly.

They reached the living room and they could see Kreacher bustling around the kitchen.

“Kreacher,” Sirius spoke.

“Master,” he turned and bowed. “The dinner you are preparing is unfortunately not agreeing with the baby, please prepare some ginger tea and crackers for Hermione.”

“Yes, Master,” he bowed before going about his tasks.

Fred put Hermione on the couch and sat down on the end of it, lifting her feet into his lap, whilst George sat the opposite side and rested Hermione’s head on his lap.

“Right then, lift your shirt for me,” Regulus ordered and Hermione did as he said. Regulus kneeled down beside the couch and began to murmur under his breath whilst Hermione’s stomach glowed a variety of colours which she didn’t know the meaning of.

“Should we tell your parents and the rest of the family?” Hermione asked.

“Not yet,” George said. “We should wait a little longer, maybe after you start showing, Merlin knows we love Mum but she can’t keep a secret to save her life and soon enough it would be spread about Wizarding Britain and we need to keep it a secret, so that He doesn’t find out. One more course of protection won’t hurt anyone,” she smiled up at him.

“Besides, Bill and Fleur are getting married in a few weeks, if we told everyone about the pregnancy, it would take away from their big day. Trust us, we know how special a wedding day is,” Fred spoke, Hermione smiled up at him.

“Best husbands ever,” they chuckled at her.

“Alright, Hermione, the results indicate the baby’s development is right on track, and nothing seems to be amiss. The baby’s heart appears to be finished forming, as have the organs and limbs, currently the baby is approximately the size of a grape. The baby will start putting on weight and increasing in size. Your nausea should stop in the second trimester, the same for mood swings, though they tend to return in the third trimester. I can see that your magical core is unsettled, likely because of the hormones flooding your body, in order to decrease the risk of accidental magic and outbursts, it may be best that you exercise your magic regularly. I’m not just talking about a spell here and a charm there. I’m talking about three, maybe four times a day of elemental magic, an hour each time. This should help with your magical outbursts, releasing all of the built-up magic in your body. I have no concerns about the baby. Are there any other symptoms I need to know about, except for the insomnia and nausea?”

“Cravings,” Hermione supplied, looking happy that the baby was perfectly healthy, the twins wore matching beaming smiles.

“That’s to be expected, you will have cravings and despite how strange they may be, it is best to give your body what it wants.”

“Not for food.”

“Sex?” he said bluntly. “That is perfectly understandable, your sex drive will have increased also and...”

“Not sex,” she scowled at him, making the twins and Sirius chuckle, whilst Orion sat on an armchair, smirking.

“What are you having cravings for then?” he tilted his head to the side, a confused look marring his features.

“The twins.”

“As I was saying, your sex drive...”

“I am not craving sex!” she snapped, the black rug in front of the fireplace set ablaze.

“Shite,” Sirius cursed and he quickly cast and Aquamenti on the burning rug, putting it out and soaking it.

“Best not to wind her up, Regulus,” Orion was now chuckling.

He nodded with a frown. “You’re quite frightening when you want to be,” he informed her.

“So I’ve been told,” she growled, his robes suddenly caught fire at he jumped up in shock and shook them off, turning around to stamp out the fire.

Sirius and the twins were howling in laughter, practically doubled over on themselves and Orion laughed richly.

“You shouldn’t have said that,” Orion muttered.

Regulus scowled at her.

“I’m pregnant, it wasn’t my fault; the baby made me do it,” she said sweetly, the laughter grew louder and tears were now running down red faces.

He cleared his throat. “What are you craving?” he finally asked, once the others had gotten their laughter under control.

“The twins, I crave their presence. When I was at Hogwarts I was constantly in a foul mood, I couldn’t sleep or eat. I always had headaches and I felt stressed. I had constant back and feet ache, poor Draco and Harry had their work cut for them,” she sighed. “I just wanted to be around them, I _needed_ to be around them. I couldn’t concentrate on anything because my every thought was occupied by them. It wasn’t until I saw them in the hospital wing that I knew what it was. When I saw them my stomach gave a hard tug and I felt butterflies, I felt lightheaded and happy. It was the baby, the baby wants them around constantly.”

The twins' hands both slipped onto her stomach which still hadn’t been covered, and they rested there, wide smiles on their faces at what she had revealed.

Hermione sighed as she felt a tug in stomach her once again and she brought her hands up to cover theirs.

“That’s interesting,” Regulus mused. “I don’t wish to see what the consequences are if the baby does not feel the presence it wants, for that reason, I think it best that you have at least one of your husbands at the Cottage at all times.”

“That’s fine with us,” the twins agreed.

“Yeah, we have a lab in the basement which we built for that particular reason, we wanted one of us to always be at home so that Hermione never felt lonely. One of us can work at the shop for the day and the other can work from home. We could hire more staff and someone to manage the store and both work from home, but with the current _politics_ , I think it’s best that we alternate staying with Hermione.”

“I’ll take tomorrow and Fred can stay with Hermione, then we’ll swap so that we each do every other day. She’ll always have one of us with her, not to mention Sirius will be here and she can research these weird objects that need destroying,” George finished for his twin.

They all nodded in agreement.

“Are you sure the baby's alright?” Hermione asked.

“Positive,” Regulus smiled, “I estimate you to be just over nine weeks pregnant, and your due date is the 11th January.”

“A great date,” the twins grinned causing Hermione to giggle. With her husbands by her side, her father and newly discovered ‘resurrected’ grandfather and uncle, their baby would be perfectly healthy, safe and well-loved.


	30. Chapter 30

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Page count: 9

**The Cottage – Wednesday 30th July 1997**

Weeks had passed since Dumbledore’s murder, Regulus and Orion’s identities being revealed and Hermione discovering that she was pregnant. Those weeks had been blissfully calm, despite what she knew was happening outside of the protective walls of her home. But when she hadn’t left the grounds protecting her since she arrived, it was easy for her to just block out everything and live in her little bubble. Well, most of the time it was.

She regularly exchanged letters with Harry, speaking of only mundane things in case they were intercepted and Hermione made sure to use the twins’ shop owls, a different one each time so that they couldn’t be recognised, and she made sure that Harry didn’t use Hedwig, instead sending a response with her owl.

She knew that the current state of the Wizarding World was playing on Harry’s mind, but she was glad to hear that he had been resting and doing as she suggested and re-reading all of his charms and spellbooks to prepare himself for his journey. Hermione had been preparing for it, too.

In the times when she wasn’t able to forget what was happening outside of her bubble, Hermione was preparing for Harry and Ron’s leaving, which she knew would be very soon. Hermione had found a backpack and some very handy charms which she cast over the backpack. An Enlarging Charm made the backpack a bottomless pit allowing her to fit supplies in without hassle. A Feather-Light Charm made the bag weightless and a few Protective Charms made it so only Hermione could open the backpack, but when the time came she would add Harry and Ron to the charms.

She had given Kreacher a list of imperishable foods that would be suitable for the journey and he had purchased them for her without question. She packed them away and placed them inside the backpack. She had asked Orion for help in getting a tent, he had given her a questioning look but a few days later he presented her with an old tent that would suit its purpose. With a little help from a few of the questionable books from her library, she added protective wards on the tent before placing that in the backpack, with a few thick duvets and pillows. She made copies of some of her books before also putting them away in the backpack.

To finish off her survival pack, she had the twins brew several types of healing potions –after asking Regulus for useful potions- since she couldn’t do it herself with the fumes being bad for pregnant women. The twins hadn’t questioned her and done it without thought. They were labelled accordingly and Hermione handwrote a manual for the use of each healing potion, including several healing charms and protective wards and the wand movements and incantations. When she was sure she had done everything she could to ensure Harry and Ron’s survival on their journey, she kept the backpack nearby for when it was needed.

When she wasn’t packing the backpack, she was doing research on Horcruxes with Regulus and Orion. They showed her everything they had learned over the years and explained to her the theories they had on the identity of the Horcruxes, their location and how to destroy them. Together they worked through each theory, putting some as a small possibility, discarding some entirely and putting some as likely. They had narrowed down several possibilities and now just had to prove it, so whilst Regulus and Orion weren’t off busy being Unspeakables or spies, they set out to see if their theories had some merit, they had not yet found anything concrete but they weren’t giving up.

When Hermione wasn’t in research mode, she was outside, wandering the grounds of The Cottage in the warm summer weather. She spent hours outdoors and exercising her elemental magic. Sometimes she made plants and trees grow focusing on enhancing her earth magic, other times she sat by the lake and focused her attention on her water magic, trying to control larger bodies of water, because she knew it would come in handy. She spent time trying to summon fire from within her, rather than just controlling it from already present sources. She spent time with working on her ability to control air, but they ability she found most difficult to control was conjuring lightning, she couldn’t do it unless she felt anger which annoyed her somewhat. She spent most of her time trying to control more than one element at a time, even trying to combine them, that took a lot of her magic and energy, which she supposed was a blessing in disguise; although it would leave her exhausted and in need of a five hour nap, it was helping to control her magical outbursts, she now only had three a week at most, but it also depended on her mood.

During these weeks, she also made sure to spend time with her Father and her husbands, spending one on one time with Fred and George when one of them stayed with her during the day, and then spending time with both of them when the shop closed for the day.

Hermione had a lot on her plate, especially with the pregnancy, but that didn’t mean that she hadn’t noticed the _phase of bad luck_ Regulus and Orion seemed to be going through. Of course, she knew it wasn’t bad luck, she was well aware that her husbands and Father had teamed up in order to get revenge for the hand they had in her pregnancy. They might’ve been happy that there was soon to be a new member of The House of Black, the twins were going to be the first in the family to be Fathers and Sirius would be a Grandfather, but that didn’t mean they had forgotten how and why Hermione was pregnant in the first place.

Neither had she for that matter, and that was why she turned a blind eye and looked the other way when Regulus or Orion suddenly sprouted feathers and a beak or found themselves stuck to the floor whilst being covered in some of the most disgusting substances Hermione had ever smelled, or even when she _accidentally_ had magical outbursts and they were directed towards them, causing her husbands and Father to smirk and smile at her proudly.

But, putting all of that aside, most of the time they got along and they had settled nicely into a routine. Hermione’s pregnancy was going fairly well with the exception that the development of the baby had become somewhat worrying. It seemed that once Hermione had reached the mark of three months, the baby’s development sped up. Everyone seemed to be alarmed, well, everyone except for Regulus.

Hermione was technically just a little over fourteen weeks pregnant and with that, she'd entered her second trimester, her sickness and mood swings had stopped, but the problem was that although Hermione was fourteen weeks pregnant, the baby’s development was telling them a different story. It was telling them that rather than being fourteen weeks, it was five months, and Hermione’s body definitely supported it.

Regulus was carrying out checks several times a day and assuring them all that both Hermione and the baby were completely fine. There were no underlying conditions and there was no evidence as to why the baby was developing six weeks faster than normal, all he could determine was that the baby was completely healthy and would be born six weeks prior to the original due date, putting the new due date at December 1st.

Hermione’s stomach had a prominent baby bump that if anyone saw they would automatically know that she was pregnant. There also seemed to be a glow that followed her wherever she went, even when she was sleeping, it never left her, and although it was a little odd, the twins couldn’t help staring at her in her literal pregnancy glow.

Hermione’s craving for the twins had increased and one of them had to always be beside her otherwise she would feel the baby squirming inside of her and it not only made her uneasy, but those around her too. Her cravings for food had long since made an appearance and she had taken a liking to Kreacher’s shortbread covered in yoghurt and cheesy mash potato, which she ate by the bucket load.

Her sex drive had definitely made an appearance and everyone had noticed it. Knowing smirks and amused looks would be waiting for Hermione and the twins when they finally dragged themselves out of bed for breakfast, of which would promptly disappear with a glare from her, after all, they didn’t want to piss off a pregnant witch, but she wasn’t just any pregnant witch, now was she? Hermione couldn’t hide her and the twins’ sexual exploits from the other occupants of The Cottage even if she tried.

They made sure to lock their bedroom door and they put up the strongest Silencing Charms they could find. What gave them away wasn’t even the twins obvious exhaustion or Hermione’s blissful smile and glow, it was the grounds of the Cottage and the weather.

Every morning Sirius, Regulus and Orion would emerge from their rooms to see new plant life covering the grounds, some flora that wasn’t even indigenous to Britain had appeared, as well as an increase in wildlife roaming the grounds, and the weather no longer complied with the forecast weather reports either, regardless of rain, wind or cold, now it was always twenty degrees or above, the whole of England was experiencing the heatwave that Hermione couldn’t control.

But now, after weeks of being under metaphorical house arrest, it was time for Hermione and Sirius to leave the confines of the grounds and immerse themselves into the world once again.

It was the day before Harry’s seventeenth birthday and it was time to collect him before he was no longer protected. And in less than three days, Bill and Fleur would be getting married, that meant they were all heading to The Burrow and it was going to be busy with setting up for the wedding ceremony.

Hermione and the others had discussed revealing the pregnancy to the rest of the family and as much as they didn’t want to take the attention away from Bill and Fleur, they had no choice. Hermione’s prominent baby bump would be difficult to hide from every Weasley and it was better to tell them before they found out for themselves. With their decision in mind, Sirius, Hermione and the twins packed up enough clothing for a few nights and they met at the fireplace, preparing to floo to The Burrow.

Hermione was wearing a pretty blue summer dress that had to be charmed to fit her baby bump comfortably and her feet were killing her so she didn’t bother putting on shoes, just walking around barefooted. Despite the hot weather she had white robes pulled on and fasted to cover her baby bump for as long as possible, they wanted to gather everyone together before they revealed the news. Hermione made sure to grab the backpack and when everyone was ready, they all looked at the Cottage, sad that they were leaving their little bubble and one by one, they stepped into the floo as the sun began to slowly set.

~000~000~000~

**The Burrow**

The Burrow was a flurry of movement as Order members rushed around preparing to set the plan into motion. She saw Tonks and Mrs. Weasley conversing together in a corner of the room, Sirius immediately went over to Remus and they quickly started up a conversation with Kingsley and Made-Eye, as they looked over what seemed to be plans covering a table.

Fred and George kissed her cheeks before moving over to Bill and Charlie and striking up greetings and conversations, Hermione smiled and nodded at them and they did the same, though they looked at her with questioning eyes, they could tell there was something different about her. Suddenly Remus’ eyes cut to her and they widened, she nodded with a soft smile, she knew his wolf had picked up on her new scent. His eyes shot to Sirius and he grabbed his arm and pulled him off to another corner and they began a hushed conversation.

Remus’ expression turned murderous but with a few choice words from Sirius he seemed to calm somewhat and he nodded in concession. Fleur was staring out of one of the windows, Ronald was sat by the fireplace staring at the wizarding chessboard that was set up on the small table and she noticed Ginny sitting on the stairs, when Hermione caught her eye, Ginny scowled at her before standing up and storming up the stairs. Hermione just shook her head and she turned and made her way over to Fleur.

“’Ermione,” the part veela greeted with a smile.

“Hey, Fleur, how are you feeling?” she asked.

“Feeling?” she responded confused.

“You’re getting married in a few days, cold feet?”

“Non, never,” she responded, her eyes wandered over to Bill and Hermione smiled to herself. Fleur loved Bill and that was clear, that was good enough for Hermione.

“Butterflies?” Hermione said knowingly, Fleur turned back to her and nodded sheepishly. “It’s okay, I felt like that too. I was a nervous wreck the week before my wedding. I had Sirius and Molly planning my wedding so that I could focus on school, even though I knew I had left everything in the hands of two very capable people, I couldn’t help but be nervous, despite the fact that I knew the twins were my true mates.”

“When did it stop?”

“The minute I put my dress on and looked at myself in the mirror, I knew that I was making the right decision. Tying myself to Fred and George, not only through marriage, but through our magic as well, it was...” she trailed off. “Well, I’ve never been happier than I am now, even with the current war raging around us, I love Fred and George so much that it affects my magic, which in turn affects the world,” she smiled slightly, whilst Fleur looked a little confused. “I couldn’t imagine my life without being married to Fred and George. You may be feeling nervous now, but I promise you, the moment you are done up and you have your dress on, every thought will vanish, the only thought you will have will be that you are marrying the man you love.”

“Zank you, ‘Ermione,” Fleur spoke, “I was hoping zat you would be a bridesmaid.” Hermione made to reject her offer, but couldn’t quickly enough. “Non, I have already acquired you a dress, it’s ze perfect size.”

“Yeah, about that Fleur....”

“Alright, everyone, it’s time,” Moody’s gruff voice interrupted. Everyone gathered together, “You all know the plan,” he said to the crowd. Everyone nodded. “Let’s get going, we only have a small window of time and no room for error.”

“CONSTANT VIGILANCE!” The twins shouted, causing Hermione to giggle, Sirius and Remus to share smirks, Moody to growl at them and they received disappointed tuts from their Mother.

“Okay, be careful, it’s not just me that needs you now,” Hermione spoke softly, after she dragged the twins off to the side when everyone made their preparations to leave.

They smiled at her words.

“Of course, Love,” George assured her, “We’re always careful.” She raised an eyebrow. “Most of the time.” Her eyebrow stayed in place. “Sometimes?” Again her expression remained the same and they chuckled at her. “We’ll be careful, like you said, it’s not just us anymore; we have our little Henry, too.”

“No, not Henry,” Hermione said. “Besides, we don’t even know the gender and we all agreed to keep it as a surprise until the birth.” They both shrugged.

“I didn’t really like Henry either,” Fred spoke. “How about Nathan?”

“No,” both Hermione and George said.

“Why are you assuming it’s a boy?” Hermione asked. They gestured around to the family of red-heads, boys outnumbering girls by eight to two. She conceded their point.

“Relax, Hermione, we’re big boys and we can take care of ourselves,” Fred assured her. “We’ll be fine, we have to be, I would hate to think what a pregnant Blue Mage would do if her mates were injured.” The twins both shivered and Hermione rolled her eyes.

“It wouldn’t be that bad,” she argued. They looked at her dubiously, arching an eyebrow. “Never mind,” she sighed, knowing they were right.

“We’ll be back before you know it and once we’ve gotten Harry, we’ll tell the rest of the family about the new addition,” Fred smiled at her. She pulled them both to her and hugged them tightly.

“I love you,” she whispered.

“Love you, too,” they replied, they pulled back and after a quick peck on the lips, they separated and made their way to the door.

Sirius took his chance to speak to her. “We’ll watch out for them,” he promised her, pulling her into a hug.

“No, look out for yourself,” she told him, “If you come back with even a hair out of place neither me nor the baby will be happy.”

He chuckled. “Always give a pregnant woman what she wants, that’s a lesson I’ve learned recently.”

“Whatever,” she muttered childishly. “It wasn’t even that bad.”

“You almost flayed Reggie alive because he was eating shortbread,” he smirked.

“That was _my_ shortbread that Kreacher made especially for me,” she defended.

He chuckled. “Didn’t say it wasn’t, Kitten. I have to go, we’ll be back before you realise we’re gone.”

He kissed her forehead and then left out the door, a few seconds later she heard several cracks and she made her way out of The Burrow and into the field that was empty.

She conjured herself a chair and sat down in the clammy evening air, waiting for her family and friends to return to her safely.

~000~000~000~

Two hours Hermione had been sat outside, Mrs. Weasley had been out several times to try and coax her back inside but Hermione had stayed exactly where she was. Mrs. Weasley gave up and instead brought her out a cup of tea and she too conjured a chair. They sat together in silence waiting. It was an hour after everyone had left that Mrs. Weasley couldn’t take the waiting anymore and so she left Hermione alone outside and went back into The Burrow to keep herself busy. If she was busy, she wasn’t worrying about her family and the danger they were facing.

Being left alone for an hour, Hermione did nothing but stare at the sky, watching the stars twinkling and with her hands covering her stomach. She could feel the baby squirming inside of her and she knew that the baby missed the presence of its Fathers just as much as she did. It was close to the three hour mark when Hermione’s worry was beginning to build and she could feel her magic being to frazzle, she didn’t have to look to know her hair was likely now a frizzy puffball, or a ‘lion’s mane’ as Sirius often referred to it as.

Thankfully, she heard the roar of an engine and she quickly stood up and her eyes searched the sky, just as a large shape appeared and was heading to the ground. The large frame of Hagrid and Harry appeared as the flying motorcycle touched down on the ground with a bump and it rolled to a stop.

“Harry!” Hermione yelled and as he climbed out of the side cart, he looked up at her. As he approached her Hermione gripped her wand in her hand and he stopped in front of her.

“May I ask you why you felt little Tiffany deserved to die?” Hermione spoke, knowing only the real Harry would know the answer.

“Well, she was the only one that actually seemed dangerous at the time, Sir,” Harry stated.

Hermione pocketed her wand and flung herself at him, her arms wrapping around his shoulders.

“Err, Hermione, your stomach,” he said in surprise, as he felt the bump against him.

“I’ll explain when the others get back,” she told him and they pulled back from each other.

“We’re the first back?”

She nodded in reply. “What happened out there, Harry?” she asked as she watched as Mrs. Weasley and Hagrid conversed.

“We had barely gotten in the air when we were ambushed, they were waiting for us, Death Eaters and He was there. We had to separate, I don’t know how anyone else faired but we barely made it out alive, Hedwig didn’t make it,” he said quietly and he saw her face pale. “Hey, I’m sure they’re fine, you’d know if they were hurt, like that time they were attacked at their shop, remember?”

She forced herself to breathe and she nodded when she realised he was right. Just then a crack was heard and out from the overgrown grass walked Remus and George, they looked dishevelled but neither appeared to be injured. Hermione sighed in relief and she didn’t bother to question them, she knew it was George. She walked over to them as quickly as she could. She flung herself at George and breathed in his scent and she felt the baby settle down now that George was there with them again.

“I’m fine,” he promised her, with his head buried against her neck and placing kisses there occasionally.

“Only Harry and Hagrid have arrived, we’re still waiting,” she told him. She pulled back and quickly hugged Remus.

“You have a lot of explaining to do,” he told her.

“I know, It’s a long story that will be told when everyone returns.”

“How are you so far along?”

“Again, long story, it’ll have to wait,” she said. “What happened?”

“We were betrayed, they knew we were moving Harry tonight and they were waiting for us.”

“Mundungus?”

“Suspect number one,” he said as another crack was heard. She pulled back in time to see Kingsley appear.

“The last words Albus Dumbledore spoke to the pair of us,” Kingsley demanded with his wand pointed at Remus, who in turn had his wand pointed.

“Harry is the best hope we have,” Remus spoke.

Hermione blocked out any further words as her attention was on Bill and Fleur who touched down on the ground on the back of a Thestral. George was the one to intercept them and when they passed, they headed into the Burrow where Mrs. Weasley was pacing back and forth.

Tonks and Ron were next to arrive and once they had been approved, they were allowed into The Burrow, as everyone convened inside, Hermione and George stayed outside, hand in hand waiting for the others.

“Thank Merlin, Fred,” Hermione sighed as he was next to arrive, along with his Father by his side and neither appeared injured. Hermione moved quickly over to him and hugged him tightly.

“See, nothing to worry about,” he said quietly into her neck.

“Tell that to the baby,” she muttered. “We’ve both been worried sick.”

“Yeah, your hair gave that away,” he chuckled when she weakly hit him in the arm.

They pulled back from her but remained outdoors, awaiting the arrival of Sirius and Charlie and Mad-Eye and Mundungus. If he showed his face Hermione was going to kill him. It was five minutes later when Charlie and Sirius arrived; she sighed and made her way over to him.

“Your hair’s out of place,” she muttered and he chuckled.

“Well, I was being chased two hundred feet in the air on a flying broom, by murderous psychopaths; it was bound to get a little windswept.”

“Not funny, we’re only waiting for Mundungus who I will kill and Mad-Eye.”

“Mundungus fled the moment he saw Him, Mad-Eye couldn’t shake them, Charlie and I did our best to help him but we got separated, the last we saw of him he had fallen off his broom.”

“He didn’t make it?” she whispered.

“No, Kitten, he didn’t make it,” he said softly.

She sniffled and nodded, “Mundungus isn’t coming here, everyone’s back; we need to tell them about Mad-Eye and the pregnancy.”

“Let’s go and get this over with, the last few hours have been difficult.” She nodded and pulled back from him and they made their way to The Burrow.

As she reached the doors, the twins took her hands and they stepped into The Burrow, Sirius was greeted and he quieted them down and asked everyone to sit. Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, Bill, Charlie, Fleur, Harry, Ron, Kingsley, Remus, Tonks and Fleur all sat down where they could and looked at Hermione, the twins and Sirius expectantly since they were stood in front of everyone.

“I take it Charlie has informed you all of Mad-Eye,” Sirius spoke, everyone nodded and they allowed a moment of silence for Mad-Eye before Sirius cleared his throat. “Hermione and the twins have an announcement to make.”

They all looked over to them.

Hermione and the twins stepped forward before she released their hands and brought them up to her robes. She unfastened them and pulled them off her, dropping them to the floor.

“We’re pregnant.”


	31. Chapter 31

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Page count: 9

**The Burrow - Wednesday 30th July 1998**

Hermione was forced to lift her hands to cover her ears at the barrage of questions and shouts that filled The Burrow. The only person that didn’t seem surprised by her announcement was Harry and that was because he already knew, what did surprise him was how far along she appeared to be. The twins both winced at the noise and Sirius’ face hardened with a glare set in place. He was just about to yell over the thunderous crowd when something stopped him.

Hermione’s hands came down from her ears and they rested protectively over her baby bump. The baby was unsettled by the sudden noise and squirming about inside of her. Hermione could feel her magic reacting to the baby’s response and before she could even attempt to rein it in, a thunderous crash echoed from outside, followed by a blinding flash of lightning that collided with the ground and smoke could be seen from the blaze that was left in its wake. The Burrow shook madly and its contents rattled and jostled. Everyone was stunned into silence as they all looked at Hermione with their faces showing shock.

“That’s our wife,” George said proudly, wrapping his arm around her waist.

“She sure knows how to silence a room,” Fred grinned, wrapping his arm around her shoulders and they both gave her a squeeze of encouragement.

Hermione took a deep breath and when she released it, the fire that could be seen from the window suddenly vanished, leaving only smoke behind.

“I understand this is a shock to you all and that you all have questions, but I must insist that you control yourselves; the baby doesn’t like sudden loud noises or to feel threatened. When that occurs my magic is difficult to control and I have outbursts.”

“How?” Ron said dumbly.

“Well, Ronnikins,” George said, “When a Mummy and a Daddy love each other very much, they...”

“George!” his Mother scolded as Ron’s face flamed bright red, his brothers sniggering.

“He does have a point,” Tonks piped up.

“Well if you actually gave her chance to explain, then you would know,” Fred pointed out and they all appeared sheepish.

“On the night of our wedding, Snape gave me a Contraception Potion...”

“So how are you pregnant? Judging by your stomach you were pregnant before you even married,” Mrs. Weasley spoke with an accusatory tone.

“Mum!” the twins snapped in anger, causing mouths to drop open in shock. The twins had their disagreements with their Mother, but they were always respectful and had never once snapped at her in the tone they just had.

“Let her explain, would you?” George spoke. Mrs. Weasley’s face turned red and she nodded quickly, fiddling with her hands.

“We _never_ had sex before our wedding, no matter how long we were together prior or what you thought of our relationship. Snape gave me a Contraception Potion to obviously prevent pregnancy, during the times of war we’re currently in it’s not the best time to bring a child into the world. Not to mention, being pregnant would make me dangerous and unable to help you in battle.” She paused to let that sink in before she continued. “I took the potion as instructed and never once missed a dosage. Two months after returning to Hogwarts and my symptoms were well and truly showing; continuous sickness, insomnia, headaches, back and feet ache and uncontrollable magical outbursts. I just put it down to stress and the strain on my bond with the twins now that we are bonded for life. The day of the battle, Harry forced me to go see Madam Pomphrey and he came with me. She ran several tests, the final one being a pregnancy test, I had five positive results.”

“How is that possible?” Charlie asked confused, his eyes wide and staring at her baby bump, which now was covered by both of Hermione’s hands and one each of the twins’.

“Not long later I discovered that Snape and Dumbledore conspired against us. It wasn’t a Contraception Potion they gave me, it was a Fertility Potion.” The room was deadly silent. “They thought it was their right to choose what happens in our marriage and they thought it was their decision to make. It was very dangerous what they did.”

“Why?” Kingsley muttered, looking ill at the revelation that the current seventeen -technically eighteen- year old was pregnant and in times of war and through apparently no fault of her own.

“There has never once been a recorded incident of a Blue Mage being pregnant, neither has it been mentioned in the journal of the previous Blue Mage. We have come up with numerous possible reasons why this is so, and most of them aren’t good,” she said quietly.

“With Hermione being pregnant, they have made it so that she, the _Blue Mage,_ our biggest and most powerful ally is out of commission; we are on our own and without her power.” Sirius’ words sunk into the minds of everyone and a look of fear flickered over their faces.

“Despite the circumstances we're in, Fred, George and I, we love our baby more than anything and we will not let any harm come to her or him. The pregnancy seems to be affecting me more than it would your average witch. And although both myself and the baby are perfectly healthy, there is a cause for worry.”

“And that is?” Harry finally spoke, looking at her stomach in surprise.

“I am technically a little over fourteen weeks pregnant, but as you can see, I appear to be more. The reason for this being, once I entered my second trimester, three months, the baby’s development increased at a rate never before seen in both wizarding and muggle pregnancies. The baby was conceived fourteen weeks ago, but I am currently five months along, the baby’s development is increased by six weeks. We’ve determined that my gestation period will be shorter than normal, and therefore the baby is due the 1st December.”

Everyone quietly took in the news.

“How do you know both you and the baby are healthy?” Remus asked, his eyes darting between Hermione’s stomach and her face.

“Agent Comet and Jugulae...”

“Snape vouched for them, they can’t be trusted!” Harry exploded.

Hermione sent him a glare which silenced him. “True, he did originally vouch for them, but now I’m vouching for them also.”

“As am I,” Sirius spoke, shocking the others.

“Us too,” the twins shrugged.

“But...”

“No, Mum,” Fred shook his head. “We know their true identities, they can be trusted; they have just as much reason to want Hermione and our baby to be safe as we do.”

“We can’t tell you why and we won’t tell you their identities just yet,” George took over, “They need to be protected and they’re the only source of information we have regarding His plans. But they can be trusted. You’ll find out who they are when the time is right,” he levelled them with a narrowing of the eyes before turning to Hermione.

“As I was saying,” Hermione continued, “Agent Comet is a trained healer. He’s trained under some of the best healers of this century and in different departments, including midwifery. He is my healer. He’s keeping track of my pregnancy and checking to make sure that the baby is healthy. I’m currently undergoing several checks a day just to be sure, but he hasn’t been wrong yet. So, to conclude, I’m pregnant, Fred and George are going to be Fathers, Molly, Arthur and Sirius are going to be Grandparents and the rest of you are going to be Aunts and Uncles. That includes you,” she looked to the shocked faces of Remus, Tonks and Kingsley and the room fell into silence.

Suddenly a cry of joy ripped from Mrs. Weasley and she stood up and rushed over to them, Fred and George were pulled away from Hermione and Hermione was encased in a hug as tears left Mrs. Weasley’s eyes and fell down her cheeks.

Her words were difficult to understand through her cries but Hermione managed to decipher the words, “pregnant,” “Grandbaby,” and “knitting.”

“You beautiful, wonderful, amazing...”

“Err, we helped too, Mum, where’s our hug?” George said, causing those that had snapped out of their daze to chuckle.

Hermione was released and she took a deep lungful of oxygen as the twins were crushed in a hug by their mother.

“And you, my boys, going to be fathers, oh dear, I just can’t believe it. My twins married and now with a baby on the way and another son due to be married in two days time,” she said through her tears of happiness.

“Yeah, way to go, Little Brothers,” Charlie said, standing up and clapping the twins on their shoulders. “Way to make the rest of us look bad,” he joked.

“Well, we are the better looking, smartest and most successful brothers,” George boasted, gaining snorts from Charlie and Bill.

“I’m going to be an Uncle,” Charlie grinned before turning to Hermione, lightly patting her stomach and then he hugged her and she giggled as he spun her around. When she was put down she was quickly approached by Mr. Weasley, followed by Bill and Fleur.

“I’m sorry to have upstaged your wedding,” Hermione said softly, “We knew that we wouldn’t be able to hide my pregnancy for long. It would’ve been suspicious with the fact that I’m wearing long cloaks in the summer, that I eat more than the twins combined and that I’m practically glued to the bathroom with the baby wreaking havoc on my bladder.”

Bill snorted at her. “Don’t be daft, Hermione, your announcement has only made this week better, I’m going to be a husband _and_ an Uncle,” he grinned at her and then hugged her. Fleur all but echoed Bill’s words and she was overjoyed at the news of Hermione’s pregnancy.

With a quick hug from Harry, congratulations from Kingsley and an excited squeal from Tonks, Remus was the last to approach her.

“I don’t like it,” Remus spoke. Hermione gave him an understanding look. “I don’t like what they’ve done to you and I certainly can’t believe they interfered in your life the way they did. But, putting that aside, I’m glad that you’re happy, that’s all I want for you.”

“Thank you, Remus,” she said as she hugged him.

“We’re going to need this,” he whispered. She pulled back confused. “We’re going to need something to keep us grounded, to remind us why we’re fighting and to give us hope. Protecting your baby and watching you throughout your pregnancy will give us all that. That little bit of hope that even the best of things can happen in the worst of times. I really am happy that you’re happy, the twins too, even Sirius has a spring in his step.”

“He’s been very attentive since finding out about the pregnancy, these last few weeks have been trying my patience with how clingy he’s been.”

Remus let out a bark of laughter, his wolf side coming through and several people looked in their direction amused at the sound.

“I suspect he’s overjoyed at the news of a soon to be Black.”

“Yes, there’s not many of us and with the baby, it’s increasing our numbers and it’ll help us to restore the family name.”

“You’ve got your work cut out for you,” he agreed, “But you’re both doing a good job so fa...” he was cut off when Hermione suddenly spun around with a murderous look on her face.

Everyone felt the atmosphere change from light and happy to tense and dangerous.

“Is it just me or did it suddenly get cold in here?” Charlie asked aloud, only to see everyone staring at Hermione as her hair gave off a fiery glow. Everyone stared in surprise but the twins and Sirius looked about ready to burst into laughter.

“RONALD!” Hermione’s voice thundered.

He whipped around, his mouth stuffed with shortbread, his cheeks puffing out as if he was a squirrel hoarding them. Crumbs surrounded his mouth, covered his shirt which led down to his hands which were full of shortbread.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing eating my shortbread!”

“We love it when she gets like this,” both Fred and George said with grins on their faces, their arms crossed over their chests and leaning back against the wall, getting comfortable to watch the show.

“WELL?”

~000~000~000~

**Friday 1st August 1998**

Midday Friday at the Burrow came with Mrs. Weasley in a frenzy; barking orders to everyone to make sure that everything was set, checked and double-checked, to ensure that the wedding went perfectly. Although Ginny hated Fleur, she was forced to spend the day with her and Gabrielle, helping the bride get ready, as well as themselves as they were bridesmaids.

Bill was off somewhere -she didn’t know where- with his best man, Charlie, his father, Ron and her husbands. Remus and Sirius had been tasked with setting up the chairs and tables ready for the reception, whilst Harry had been tasked with cleaning out the shed and repainting it.

An hour after midday Ron and the twins returned and before her husbands had a chance to greet her, they were sent off with tasks of their own from their Mother. It seemed that the only person who had escaped Mrs. Weasley’s wrath was Hermione; instead, she had Mrs. Weasley checking up on her every ten minutes, making sure that she had everything she needed. Mrs. Weasley wouldn’t allow her to do anything in her ‘delicate state’ which had Hermione scowling and the twins quickly removing their Mother from their wife’s presence.

Hermione currently sat in the hot summer weather, lounging on a summer lounge chair that had been conjured by her Father to make her more comfortable. With a parasol to protect her delicate skin from sunburn, a book in hand, a glass of lemonade and a little help from the wind responding to her wishes and giving her a breeze, her eyes flicked over the grounds of The Burrow as she watched everyone getting on with their tasks.

The grass was far too long, coming up way past knee height and something had to be done about it. Given how bored she was at watching everyone else being able to contribute to the wedding in some way and she wasn’t, and the fact that she hadn’t been able to exercise her elemental magic since she had arrived at The Burrow, she made up her mind. She put her things down on the small table beside the chair and barely managed to stand up.

She walked away from the chair before she struggled to lower herself to the ground, sitting on her knees and leaning back against her heels. With learned ease she put her hands flat against the ground and closed her eyes, feeling her magic swirling around her, inside of her, feeling the sun on her skin, the breeze tousling her hair, hearing the water of the small lake nearby and smelling the earth, she allowed her magic to flow out of her, to have freedom.

The ground rumbled slightly, but Hermione sat with a serene smile on her face feeling the grass tickle her hands as it shortened. A new scent hit her, the scent of flowers and when she could no longer feel the warmth of the sun on her she opened her eyes.

Both Fred and George were standing in front of her and smiling down at her.

“If Mum saw you now she’d kill you,” Fred chuckled.

“No, she wouldn’t; I’m pregnant,” Hermione said lightly. Her husbands laughed at her and she looked around with a smile on her face.

The grass was now cut short as it should be, with daisies, buttercups, lavender and daffodils littering the grounds and standing proudly.

“You’ve been busy,” George commented, as he helped her get back onto her feet.

“Well I was bored, everyone’s treating me like I’m useless,” she scowled.

“They’re just worried; they don’t want to put any extra stress on you or the baby.”

“What’s putting stress on us is everyone treating us like we’re idiots.” She crossed her arms grumpily. “If I can’t help any of you in manual labour, your Mother won’t give me any tasks to do, I can’t be a bridesmaid and I can’t be in the same room as Ginny...” both the twins snorted at her. “What?” she demanded.

“Nothing, Love,” George grinned.

“It’s not my fault my magic flares up when she’s around,” she pouted.

“Flares up?” Fred said disbelievingly, “I’ve lost count of the number of times you’ve almost set her on fire.”

“You should be talking to your child, it’s not my fault the baby doesn’t like Ginny.”

“Hmmm,” they both hummed.

“It’s the _baby_ that doesn’t like her,” George smirked and she scowled at him.

“My point being, I need to do something, I need to be productive, I can’t just sit on my behind doing nothing. The least I could do was grow a few flowers and cut the grass, besides, I haven’t had a chance to exercise my elemental magic since arriving here and we all know what happens when I don’t do that.”

They both winced and then nodded in agreement.

“What on earth was that?” Mrs. Weasley’s voice carried over to them as she walked out of The Burrow, before suddenly stopping in surprise at the new flower-covered grounds.

Mrs. Weasley stuttered a few times, looking around in a daze before her eyes suddenly cut to Hermione and a scowl appeared on her face, her hands sat on her hips, her wooden spoon in hand and her apron tied around her waist. She made her way over to the little family and Hermione vaguely heard sniggers. Looking behind her she saw the other occupants of The Burrow looking both amused.

“You have some explaining to do, young lady,” Mrs. Weasley said in a tone of disapproval. “In your state, you shouldn’t...”

“I’m sorry, my _state_?” Hermione interrupted with a scowl of her own and her hands on her hips, mirroring her mother-in-law’s stance, though Hermione stood several inches taller than her.

Both Fred and George looked at each other before taking a step back and out of the way.

“My _state_?” Hermione repeated. “I’m pregnant, not handicapped. I do not have an illnesses, I do not have a disability. There is nothing wrong with me. I can’t just sit around and watch everyone else doing something, I’m bored. And in order for me to remain in control of my magic, I have to exercise my elemental magic for three hours a day, the last time I didn’t I accidentally created an earthquake.”

“But...”

“Mum, just leave it, yeah?” George sighed.

“We know you’re happy about having a Grandchild, but you can’t overwhelm, Hermione. You can’t tell her what to do. She’s a married, grown woman and it’s _our_ baby, the only people that should be making decisions regarding Hermione and our baby is us.” Fred spoke. “We trust Hermione and we know her, and we also know what happens when she isn’t able to exercise her elemental magic, and you preventing her from doing that is not in the best interest of anyone within two hundred miles of us.”

Her eyes almost bugged out of her head at the news.

“Molly,” Hermione sighed, “I understand that you’re worried and excited, but you have to let me make my own decisions. You can’t take over my life and you can’t overrule my opinions; it’s our baby, not yours. I’m the one carrying the advanced developing baby, I’m the one that talks to my healer three times a day. I’m the one that has to waddle to the bathroom every twenty minutes. I may be a first time Mother and yes, I’m scared, I’m terrified, I’m worried, but I know what I’m doing regarding the health of the baby. And I can bloody well eat pears and peaches too. If I want chocolate covered pears, then I will eat chocolate-covered pears. I don’t care for superstitions and unless my healer specifically tells me not to eat certain foods, then I will continue to eat them.”

Mrs. Weasley didn’t speak, she merely nodded her head and turned around and went back into the Burrow. As Hermione let out a sigh of relief the twins enveloped her in a hug.

“Thank you for defending me,” she said.

“Don’t be daft, you’re our wife, of course we’ll defend you,” Fred said.

“We would’ve done it sooner if we hadn’t have been with Bill all morning,” George promised her. “How’s the baby?”

“Fine, definitely going to be a Quidditch player, no matter the gender.”

“What makes you say that?” Fred chuckled.

“Here, I’ll show you.” Hermione took her husbands’ hands and rested them against her stomach, instantly they could feel a ‘thump’ against their hands and they stared at Hermione wide-eyed as she grinned at them. “The baby’s been kicking all morning; I was waiting until you got back to surprise you.”

“Consider us surprised,” George spoke awed. “It kind of makes everything real, doesn’t it?”

“How so?” Hermione said with a tilted head.

“We know you’re pregnant, we’ve seen the results and we’ve been present at every one of your health checks. We’ve seen the baby wreaking havoc on your magic, on your senses, eating habits, sex drive and sleeping patterns. We can even see your bump, showing us how the baby is growing.”

“But we’ve never been able to interact with the baby like you have, we can’t feel it moving or feel it reacting to certain situations and stimulus. That was until now, for the first time we can _feel_ our baby kicking, it just makes everything real,” Fred took over for his twin.

“We’re going to be fathers,” George whispered.

“No,” Hermione shook her head lightly. “You’re going to be _amazing_ fathers, the best any child could wish for.” She corrected them. Large smiles appeared on their faces and she was hugged by them tightly.

When they pulled away it was to see everyone staring at them with knowing looks and happy smiles on their faces.

“Let’s get ready for this wedding; I’m not having anything ruining it. A bride deserves a perfect wedding. I had mine and Fleur will have hers too.”

“I pity the poor sod that even tries to mess with the wedding,” George grinned and Fred snorted, nodding in agreement, knowing perfectly well how frightening his wife truly was when she was mad.

“Right then, I think I’ll create an arch of flowers at the altar,” Hermione said thoughtfully, tapping her chin. “But first... Kreacher!” Hermione called.

The old house-elf immediately appeared in front of her with a plate stacked high with shortbread and a bowl of cheesy mash sat on a tray.

“I love you,” Hermione sighed.

“Is she talking to Kreacher or the food?” Harry asked as he approached them, earning laughs from the twins.


	32. Chapter 32

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Page count: 11

**The Burrow - Friday 1st August 1998**

"I've never seen Hermione so pissed," Charlie yelled, as chaos ensured.

The wedding reception had been interrupted by Kingsley's worrying Patronus, explaining the fall of The Ministry and barely a minute later, Death Eaters had broken through the wards at The Burrow, and Charlie was right, Hermione _was_ pissed.

As guests fled in fear and desperation and The Order members held their wands in their hands tightly fighting Death Eaters, she stood in the middle of the marquee.

There was a dark and deadly glare on her face, her cheeks had pinked in anger, her nostrils flared and her hair sparked, giving off what looked to be little sparks of lightning. Her hands were clenched into fists by her sides and she breathed heavily.

Hermione was more than pissed, she was furious, she was livid. All of the hard work that had gone into the wedding to give Fleur and Bill a perfect day like she had was ruined. All of their effort and time had been wasted and she couldn't believe they had the gall to interrupt a ceremony of happiness and love.

She could feel her magic raging through her body, building and building and begging to be released. She couldn't remember being so angry, except when Fred and George were attacked. The Weasleys may not have been her mates, but they were still her family and Voldemort had disrespected her by ruining something her family had worked so hard on. Her magic was thrumming inside of her and she hadn't done nearly enough exercising of her magic as she should've done. That made it harder to control her magic.

She took in the sound of the screams of horror and fear, the yells of incantations and insults, the smell of burning as fire tore through The Burrow's grounds and smoke filled the air, dark, thick and heavy. Her family were fighting valiantly and with everything they had, but there were too many Death Eaters, and they would ultimately lose.

Hermione took a deep breath and unclenched her fists. She fished into her robe pockets and pulled out the shrunken down backpack before spinning in a circle, her eyes searching.

"Harry!" she yelled, her eyes landing on him as he crouched behind a fallen table, firing spells over the top of it. His eyes cut to hers and he immediately understood, it was time for him to leave.

Ron was next to him and he gripped the back of his robes before standing and pulling him in Hermione's direction. A Death Eater fired a spell and they had to duck, it slammed into a table and set ablaze.

Hermione knew they weren't going to make it to her and so she lifted her hand showing Harry her intentions and he was ready when she threw the backpack through the air. He caught it and with a small smile in her direction, he grabbed Ron's arm and apparated them away as their mission to destroy Voldemort's soul officially began.

Now that Harry and Ron were safe, she turned her attention back to the chaos happening around her. Her magic wanted free, but before she could let that happen she had to get everyone to safety. Her eyes searched for the most vulnerable of the guests and they landed on Gabrielle, Fleur's little sister who was barely even eleven years old. Hermione's instincts as a soon to be mother kicked in and she knew she had to protect the young child. Hermione fearlessly made her way through the havoc, trying her best not to waddle as she didn't want to give the fact that she was pregnant away and thankfully her robes covered her bump.

She easily deflected ricocheting spells, but it seemed the Death Eaters were trying to avoid her, not wanting to injure the Blue Mage after witnessing what happened to Bellatrix.

"Gabrielle," Hermione said softly, not wanting to frighten the cowering child who hid behind a chair.

"'Ermione," she spoke, recognition and hope in her eyes. Hermione nodded and smiled at her before offering her hand.

"Take my hand, I'll take you somewhere safe and Fleur will collect you."

Without thought, Gabrielle reached out and took Hermione's hand. Hermione summoned the air around her and disappeared from the wedding in her tornado. She dropped Gabrielle off at the Malfoy's safe house and quickly returned to The Burrow.

More Death Eaters had arrived and outnumbered the Order three to one. Hermione searched for her family and her anger only flared up when her eyes landed on each one of them.

Charlie seemed to be favouring one leg, the reason why clear as a large gouge was missing and blood poured. Bill had a large cut on his forehead and blood flowed down his face and impaired his vision. Mr Weasley seemed to be bleeding from his shoulder, and Mrs Weasley held a hand to her side and blood covered her fingers. Remus too had a gouge in his leg and was limping, Tonks' hair was now jet black, a clear indicator of her anger and she had cuts littering her face and arms. Sirius cradled his left arm to his body and Hermione could almost see the bone sticking out of the skin. She spotted Fleur and her perfect up-do was ruined, some hair was held up and the rest was frizzy. Her once beautiful gown was now covered in blood, dirt and tears and her anger grew. Did they know how much that dress cost! But then her eyes landed on Fred and George and her heart stopped.

They were fighting back to back as Death Eaters surrounded them. Blood had soaked through their white shirts which could clearly be seen as they had abandoned their robes during the reception. George had blood gushing from where his left ear used to be, the work Hermione had done to heal him was undone. Fred had burns littering his forearms, and a cut on his cheek. How dare they hurt her mates!

Her magic had wanted to be free and now it was. The Blue Mage came forward and Hermione was helpless to stop it, not that she wanted to. Whatever was going to happen needed to happen.

She felt the air swirling around her. The wind brushed against her skin comfortingly and it started at her feet, quickly rising until she could no longer be seen as a tornado surrounded her. She pushed it away from her and the tornado split from one, into two, into three, then into four, and it continued until there were enough to protect everyone still fighting.

They moved over to her family and Order members and surrounded them. The Death Eater's curses couldn't reach its targets as they were hidden inside the powerful wind gusts, which quickly swept the magic away until it disintegrated.

The Death Eaters slowly turned to look at her and fear shot through them. Hermione's eyes were no longer chocolate brown, now they were multi-coloured an indication that she was no longer in control, her magic had taken over. Her entire body had lifted off the ground and she was floating in mid-air as she glowed, her face impassive and her hair floated around her as if she were in water and sparks flew off her.

Hermione slowly lifted her hand and clicked her fingers.

Several bangs were heard, as if dynamite had been triggered and it was deafening. The tornados that were protecting her family and Order members suddenly lurched forward and all Death Eaters in the vicinity were ploughed into by the tornados and they were sent flying back in all directions, away from the marquee and those fighting for the light.

The eyes of those that remained flew to Hermione and they widened and stared at her in awe, wonder and a hint of fear.

"Yeah," Fred agreed amused, not all frightened by his wife. "She's pissed."

George snorted at him. "I've haven't seen her that mad since we were attacked," he smirked.

"Death Eaters are idiots," Fred nodded along with his twin.

Hermione slowly lowered to the ground, but her eyes remained the same, she knew that they weren't out of danger yet and Death Eaters were still surrounding the marquee and more were being called.

She made her way to Fred and George and they smiled at her when she reached them and her hands came up to cup their cheeks.

"We're okay," Fred assured her.

Hermione's hand moved away from George to show them the blood covering her hand from the wound on his head.

"Okay, we're a little banged up, but we're going to be okay," George amended with a small smile.

Hermione looked around at her injured family. The Order members were no longer present, they had already left to deal with the Death Eaters on the grounds.

Hermione took hold of the twins' hands and disappeared from view. They landed at The Malfoy's safe house. Hermione wanted to take them home, but she knew that Gabrielle would need someone with her until she got the rest of the family together. Hermione turned to George and placed her hands on either side of his face and his eyes locked onto hers as she healed his wounds, just as she had the night of the attack. Water flowed from her fingers clearing away the blood and the wound was quickly cauterised, stopping the blood and he smiled at her softly.

She then turned to Fred and her attention went to his burns and cuts. Water flowed from her fingers to clean away the blood, and they had already stopped bleeding on their own. She then summoned her ability over fire to remove the heat from the burns to make it painless for Fred, and the wind licked over his burns in a comforting breeze. He smiled at her before they both kissed her and walked towards the cottage that was similar to theirs.

Hermione returned to The Burrow and in pairs, she transported everyone to the safe house, until she was the only one left.

She wore her fury on her face, in her body language, anyone that saw her would testify to that. She slowly made her way out of the marquee and she came to the view of Death Eaters running amuck and destroying anything and everything in their view, as they also fought with Order members.

She let her eyes take in the sight of the burning trees, the destroyed altar and flowers, and her heart clenched when she saw The Burrow, crumbling to the ground as a place filled with memories and love was shattered.

She caught sight of two Death Eaters, only she didn't feel the need to punish them, she would recognise them anywhere, even with their robes and masks. They were Orion and Regulus. They were battling with two Order members but she instantly noticed that they weren't using fatal spells, only ones that would injure and that could easily be healed.

They caught sight of her and with a barely noticeable nod in her direction, they ended their duels with the Order members and apparated away whilst everyone else was distracted.

It was time to end the destruction.

Order members turned around when they felt her magic brush against theirs in warning. They took one look at her before turning on their heels, disappearing to safety and abandoning their duels, leaving only cackling Death Eaters, who had yet to notice her.

She slowly knelt down on the ground and pressed her hands into the grass, focusing her magic, forcing it to flow into the earth beneath her.

Sweat began to form on her brow and she clenched her teeth as her hands dug into the dirt. She could feel a soft buzzing beneath her and slowly it grew more powerful, going from a buzzing, to vibrating, to shaking until she heard a rumble. She opened her eyes as the ground beneath her cracked and a wide split appeared as the ground opened it. The Death Eaters that were caught unaware feel into the crater that had opened up and she heard them scream and yell in fear as they were swallowed up by the earth itself. Those that had noticed escaped, leaving behind their comrades and fellow Death Eaters.

When there was not a Death Eater in sight, she closed up the crater in the earth, leaving behind no evidence of the punishment that had just taken place. She shakily stood up, having what she had just done had taken a lot of her energy and use of her magical core. Summoning the water of the nearby lake she put out the many blazes on the grounds before leaving to her home.

**Malfoy Safe House**

When she arrived home Hermione quickly collected Orion and Regulus, who had changed out of their Death Eater robes and into their Unspeakable ones, and she took them to the safe house.

They walked up the cobbled stone pathway and entered the cottage, to be met with shouts and the overpowering smell of blood. Mrs Malfoy was talking in a corner with Sirius and Fleur was consoling Gabrielle, as everyone else argued.

Hermione tried to get their attention by speaking, louder and louder each time but eventually, she got annoyed. When Hermione slammed the door shut, everyone stopped yelling and they turned to look at.

"Oh, so all I have to do to get your attention is slam a door?" she said lightly. "Good to know."

"You owe me an explanation?" Draco scowled, moving forward and stopping in front of her, towering over her. "This is supposed to be my safe house and suddenly it's overrun with red-heads."

"We know you love us, Malfoy," Bill snorted and Draco sent a glare in his direction.

"The Ministry of Magic has fallen and the Burrow was attacked during the reception," she said simply. He paled immediately.

"Right, well, stay as long as you need," he muttered, looking embarrassed and she snorted at him.

"Agents Comet and Jugulae, do you mind?" she gestured to everyone. They didn't speak, only nodded and quickly went about healing the injured and dishing out pain potions, though it was mainly Regulus doing the healing and Orion helped where he could.

"Where's Harry and Ron?" Mrs Weasley spoke, looking around in a panic.

"They're safe, I made sure of it."

"But where are they, when are they arriving?"

"They're not."

"What!" she screeched.

"They're not coming here, or back for that matter. Now that the Ministry has fallen and Hogwarts has been infiltrated, it's not safe for them here. Before Dumbledore died he shared with me that Harry has a mission to complete, a mission that can end the war if completed. Although I am not able to go with them, I am still helping them. Trust me when I say they are safe and I wouldn't let anything happen to them. I've been preparing for this for weeks."

"But..."

"Mum, leave it, she's said they're safe, so they're safe," George rubbed at his now healed wound.

"I've never seen you so pissed," Charlie snorted and then winced as Regulus was healing his leg.

"They ruined the wedding reception," she scowled and Draco watched confused as Hermione waddled over to a chair, which Bill quickly exited for her and she smiled at him, before her scowl reappeared. "They ruined all our hard work, everyone put so much into making the wedding perfect and it was destroyed. I spent two bloody hours getting that archway right, do you know how many flowers I grew? And the dress," she gestured to Fleur. "Do you have any idea how much it cost? And they hurt my mates," she scowled and then a sudden look of sadness overtook her.

"I'm sorry to say that the Burrow has been destroyed, I did my best to save it, but in the end, it was too badly damaged to salvage anything." Sombre looks filled the faces of the Weasleys.

"At least my family is safe," Mrs Weasley smiled with tears in her eyes.

"So, what did you do after you left us here, Kitten?" Sirius asked, walking back over to the group with Mrs Malfoy.

"I warned the remaining Order members to leave and then I took care of things."

"How?" he raised an eyebrow.

"I opened up a crater in the ground and it swallowed up some of the Death Eaters whole, the others that were fast enough escaped, but I got a good few of them." She shrugged, sudden tiredness overtaking her.

She could feel the baby, it was restless and clearly didn't like what they had all just experienced.

"Hermione, are you alright?" Sirius asked worriedly.

"Hmm," she hummed, her eyes drooping and her head dropping onto her chin.

"Hermione!" the room filled with yells of worry and Regulus dropped down in front of her and the twins found themselves kneeling on either side of the chair, holding her hands.

"Shite!" Draco cursed and his mother gasped when Hermione's robes were unfastened and her stomach was revealed. "She's... She's... She's..."

"Pregnant!" The Weasleys all snapped at Draco as they watched Hermione worriedly.

~000~000~000~

**Muggle London**

"Ron, watch out!" Harry yelled, he grabbed Ron's robes and pulled him out of the road, just as a bus went past, the horn blazing.

"What the bloody hell was that?" Ron's face bright red.

"A bus lane in the centre of Muggle London," Harry said, looking around the crowd of people as they went their own way and paying no attention to anything but themselves. "We have to get out of here, we should probably change into Muggle clothing too, there are public toilets on the London Underground, it's not far from here," Harry spoke, before pulling a still shocked Ron towards the London Underground and into the bathroom. He fished out some clothes from the backpack for both himself and Ron and they quickly changed.

"Where do we go now?"

Harry sighed. "There's a cafe that I used to visit nearby, we'll go there first before any decisions are made. I found a letter from Hermione we should probably read, the genius that she is likely already has everything figured out."

A ten minute walk through the London Underground led to the cafe Harry had mentioned, they ordered a cup of tea and sat in a booth hidden in the corner of the room.

"So, what does the letter say?" Ron asked when the waitress left their teas on the table and disappeared into the back of the cafe.

Harry pulled the letter out of the zip compartment on the front of the backpack, looked around before casting a Silencing Charm and he read the letter aloud.

_Harry, Ronald,_

_I know that what you have to do is hard and I know that Dumbledore, the manipulative old fool that he was, didn't give us much to go on. I am currently researching the possible identities and the hiding places of the objects and how to destroy them and I have been since the end of school._

_Don't try to follow any leads on Slytherin's locket, I already have the real locket in my possession._

Harry and Ron looked at each other shocked.

"Bloody hell," Ron whispered.

_I am being aided with the research aspect, don't worry, they won't try to get involved and stop you from completing the mission and they won't tell anyone. We are going to try and use the locket to track the others, if it will work, we don't know but it's worth a try._

_I have been preparing for this mission since the end of school and in this backpack, you will find everything you need to survive on the run._

_I have included non-perishable foods that should last you at least a month, even with the way Ronald eats, you shouldn't run out. You will also find a tent with protective wards cast over it, with everything inside, including duvets and pillows for the both of you, wouldn't want you to get cold, now would I?_

_I am unsure if you will need any money, but to cover all the possibilities, you will find a pouch with both Muggle and Wizarding money, but you should avoid the Wizarding World._

_Fred and George have brewed many healing potions, which you will undoubtedly get through in no time at all, I do know you after all. Copies of books from The Black's library are also in the backpack, and all of them will be helpful to you in some way. I have handwritten a manual on useful spells and protective wards, including their incantations and wand movements, learn them, memorise them, use them._

_There is a map of Britain in the zip compartment, on it there will be several locations marked that will give you a place to lay low and stay off the radar, they are places I have visited before when I was younger and I am sure they are suitable for your safety. You will find photos of each location so that you can visualise your destination and apparate without incidence._

_Finally, in the zip compartment inside the backpack you will find a brand new D.A. coin. It is connected to only one other coin, of which is in my possession and I will always have it with me. If you need anything all you have to do is use it and for the love of Merlin, please don't lose it. In exactly one month's time, I will arrange a drop point in which I will leave food and any other supplies that you may need, along with a new D.A coin, as the one you have will become inactive since I made it time-sensitive._

_I know that neither of us have no idea of where to start, but once I have a lead, I'll let you know. You can also do some research, don't be leaving me to do it all, you lazy sods. I know that we should be doing this together, but due to Dumbledore and Snape not being able to keep their noses out of other people's business, I, unfortunately, can't be._

_I believe in you and I know you can do this. No matter how this mission turns out, I will always be proud of you._

_Stay safe, look after each other and be careful._

_Good luck, Little Brothers._

_Love, Hermione._

"Hermione to the rescue," Harry chuckled fondly, putting the letter back into the backpack. He searched it and found both the map and the coin. He unfolded the map and counted twenty-three different locations.

"Where should we head first, do we pick at random or start at the first point on the map?" Harry asked, his eyes scanning the map. When Ron didn't answer he looked up to see Ron looking down at the table with a frown on his face.

"Ron?" he didn't answer. "Ron?" he slowly lifted his head.

"She said 'Little Brothers'"

"Right?"

"She said 'Little Brothers' and not Little Brother."

The realisation hit Harry.

"You _are_ her little brother, she's your sister-in-law."

"But she's never associated me with her family before. She's barely spoken to me in the last two years."

"What do you expect, Ron? You were an arsehole towards her, always putting her down, always making her feel bad about herself and her achievements. Whenever she had any male attention, you went too far and called her names. When she told you she had a date you laughed at her and didn't believe her. When you found out she was dating Fred and George, you locked yourself in your room for the rest of the holidays. The only reason I'm still your friend after the way you treated her is because of her. She convinced me to stay friends with you."

They both fell quiet.

"I was jealous," Ron mumbled.

"I know you were, I've always known you had a thing for her," Harry confessed and Ron looked surprised. "She liked you, too, up to a certain point. She got tired of trying to gain your attention and in the end, she gave up. You lost her because you ignored her and made fun of her."

"I've been an arsehole," he frowned. "I've treated her worse than even the Slytherins did. She was my friend and when she needed me, I wasn't there for her. I lost her. I need to apologise, don't I?"

"No, you need to grovel. You need to beg for her forgiveness and hope that she believes that you are sincere. It's been two years, it's time to admit that you're wrong."

Ron nodded.

"When did you get so smart?"

"I've been best friends with The Brightest Witch of the Age since I was eleven, it was bound to rub off on me eventually," he snorted.

"She's saved our arses hasn't she?"

"She's been saving our arses since the day we met her, it's the Hermione we know. So, random or first location?"

"Random, if we are being tracked, which we likely are, there will be no pattern to our movements and Voldemort won't be able to predict our next move."

"See?" Harry laughed.

"The Brightest Witch of the Age seems to have rubbed off on me too," he said fondly. "We shouldn't stay in one place too long either."

"We'll head out soon, do you want to pick the campsite?"

Ron shrugged and randomly pointed to a marked location.

"Alright, that's where we'll go." Harry looked up when they saw two men enter the cafe, carrying toolboxes and wearing coveralls. Harry quickly put the map away and slipped the coin into his pocket. He picked up his tea and took a sip, his eyes watching the two men as they stopped at the counter.

There was something about them that set his senses on edge and his instincts were right. He saw the men reach into their pockets and he caught the sight of a wand.

"Ron, move!" Harry yelled, both he and Ron jumped out of their seats and away from the table, just as two spells collided with it and it shattered into pieces, flying around the room.

A duel broke out, the two Death Eaters taking cover behind the counter and Harry and Ron taking cover behind tables and the cafe was destroyed in the process.

"Stupefy," Harry called, missing his target but the spell slammed into the shelf above and the glass jars fell off and hit his target in the head, knocking him unconscious.

"Petrificus Totalus," Ron yelled, the spell slammed through the glass of the counter and caught his target in the chest and he fell to the ground. They both stood up panting and looking around at the mess.

"I'll get the lights," Ron said, pulling out the illuminator Dumbledore had left him, whilst harry closed the blinds.

They both made their way to the Death Eaters, their wands in hand and on their guard.

"That's Rowle," Harry said to Ron, looking down at the hulking blonde. "He was on the Astronomy Tower."

"That's Dolohov, I recognise him from the wanted posters," Ron said, looking at the smaller raven-haired man. "What should we do, kill them?"

"No," Harry said.

"Suppose it was them that did Moody."

"It doesn't matter, we're not murderers."

"We can't let them leave, they've seen us."

"We'll wipe their memories. Do you know how to?"

"No, you?"

"No,"

Ron groaned. "Where's Hermione when you need her?"

"Heavily pregnant and at the Burrow fighting off Death Eaters," Harry retorted.

"She's needed there," Ron nodded as Harry snorted at him. Harry retrieved the backpack and searched through it until he found the handwritten manual of spells and wards.

"She's alphabetised it," Harry chuckled.

"Of course she has," Ron rolled his eyes.

"I've found it, Obliviate, it doesn't look too complicated," Harry said, obviously lying and he looked completely confused.

"We're screwed," Ron sighed.


	33. Chapter 33

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Page count: 10

**The Cottage - Wednesday 16th September 1998**

It was six weeks later and Hermione found herself sitting alone in the living room, reading a book and eating cheesy mash. It was only her and George alone at the cottage since Regulus and Orion were off being Unspeakables, it was Fred’s day at the shop, Kreacher was out getting more food supplies and Sirius was off on Order business.

Hermione felt the D.A coin heat up in the pocket of her jeans, which had been altered with magic to accommodate her growing stomach. Hermione put a spoonful of cheesy mash into her mouth, before placing the bowl onto the coffee table and she struggled to stand up.

She fished the coin out of her pocket and worry surged through her as she looked at the message Harry had sent her.

_Help! Ron’s injured! #5!_

“George!” Hermione yelled as she used her wand to summon a warm coat since the weather was quickly turning, signalling the soon arrival of winter.

“What is it?” he ran into the living room, obviously sensing the panic in her voice.

“Ron’s hurt, I have to go.”

“I’ll go with you,” he said, not wanting her to be out of his sight in case she ran into trouble. He knew she could handle herself, but there was no way in hell he would allow what happened to her after the reception to happen again.

She had passed out and was unconscious for three days having used too much of her energy stores during the attack. She had saved their lives but burned herself out doing it, neither her magical core nor the baby could handle the depletion and they sent her into an unconscious state until her magic was restored.

Despite both her and the baby being perfectly healthy, everyone was keeping a closer eye on her to prevent it from happening again. She was barely left alone, even Kreacher followed her around when he wasn’t keeping Hermione’s craving fed and making sure she rested and kept herself healthy, honestly, he was worse than everyone else combined.

Hermione could see the worry in George, he didn’t want to let her out of his sight, but he was also worried for his little brother.

“Okay, we better hurry.”

He walked over to her and took her hand, knowing that she was going to transport them.

“Do you know where they are?”

“I know exactly where they are, and that’s how I know they’re safe.”

With that, she whisked them away.

~000~000~000~

**Location #5**

Hermione and George landed smoothly on the ground. The smell of bark and mud hit Hermione’s nose and a smile pulled at her mouth.

“Where are we?”

“One of the safe locations I mapped out for Harry and Ron, they should have wards up, I left instructions for them. They’ll be nearby somewhere.”

She struggled to get onto her knees and George helped her. She pressed her hand into the dirt, the rough texture of broken twigs and dried leaves scratching against her skin.

She listened to voices in the wind and the vibrations in the ground, telling her exactly where Harry and Ron where.

“They’re about ten minutes north of us,” she spoke.

George helped her up and to speed things along, she transported them to where the earth had told her they’d be.

“I don’t see... bloody hell!” George jumped as Harry appeared out of nowhere.

“Thank Merlin, I didn’t know what to do,” Harry spoke panicked.

Hermione looked him over, he looked tired, stressed, pale, but other than that he was well fed and showed no sign of injury. With that Harry turned and waved his wand, the wards before them dropping instantly and the tent came into view.

Harry led them towards the tent and Ron’s whimpers of pain-filled Hermione’s ears and she sped up as much as she could, looking like a waddling penguin in the process.

“Merlin!” Hermione whispered as she entered the tent, her face drained of colour as she saw the blood covering the sheets of the camp bed Ron was laid on.

“What happened?” She spoke, moving over to Ron and removing her coat.

She examined the wound, moving the blood-soaked and shredded clothing out of the way to get a better view. It looked as though his shoulder had been ripped from the socket.

“George, I need Dittany, gauzes and bandages,” she said, she heard him rifling through the healing potions, looking for what she asked for.

“We went to The Ministry; we thought we had a lead on another Horcrux. We broke in using PolyJuice and created a distraction so that I could get close enough to Umbridge to see if we were right. We weren’t and we were discovered, this happened as we escaped.”

“You’ve splinched him, it should heal but you won’t be able to move camp for a while, Ron will need to get his strength back up after this.”

She took the Dittany from George and he stood beside her, preparing himself to help in case she needed it. She unstopped the vial and poured several drops of the liquid onto Ron’s injury. He gave a scream and his body writhed around.

“Hold him down,” she commanded, both Harry and George did their best to keep Ron steady as Hermione continued to drop the healing potion onto his wound, apologising every time she did so.

“Okay, that should do it,” she said, putting the Dittany down and looking at the wound as it slowly began to heal, the wound stitching itself back together.

She cleaned the blood away with a siphoning spell and covered the wound with gauze, wrapping it in bandages and securing it. Ron was pale and sweating, his breathing coming out in gasps and his body twitching from the pain he had just endured.

“Get me a Calming Draught, a Blood Replenisher, a Pain Reliever and a mild Sleeping Draught.” She ordered. George disappeared from her side, only to return moments later with what she asked for.

She poured the potions down Ron’s throat and she could see the difference in him immediately. He stopped shaking, his breathing slowed, colour returned to his face and the pained look disappeared from his face. She was about to pour the Sleeping Draught down his throat when his hand weakly grabbed her wrist and stopped her.

Harry and George took one look at each other and quickly left the tent, leaving Hermione and Ron alone to finally have the talk.

“Ron, you need to take this, it’ll allow your body to heal whilst you sleep.”

“No, not yet,” he shook his head slowly, his eyes droopy. “We need to talk.”

“We can talk later,” Hermione said.

“No, you can’t stay long; it’s not safe for you.”

“Fine, you have two minutes before you have to take the Sleeping Draught.”

“I can work with that. These last two years without you being my friend has affected me in ways I never thought possible. I realise now that you were more to me than a friend, than someone to do my homework or argue with. You were my _best_ friend, and you didn’t betray me, not even when I said things to purposely hurt you because I was mad at something or other. I’m sorry. I’m sorry for the way I’ve treated you, I’m sorry for upsetting you and hurting your feelings. I’m sorry for...”

“I get it, Ronald, you’re sorry and I forgive you.”

“You do?”

“Yes, I forgive you.”

“What made you decide that?”

“Honestly, my pregnancy. What Snape and Dumbledore did to me, for them to interfere in the way they did is unforgivable, but being pregnant, having a tiny life force growing inside of me, depending on me, it’s changed the way I see the world, and so has this war. We don’t have time for petty squabbles when death is around the corner, we need to show a united front, give them something to be afraid of. You’re going to be an Uncle and no matter what you’ve done to me in the past or what you’ve said, you’re going to be in my baby’s life. The more people there is to show my baby love and friendship, the more it will feel and be able to reciprocate. My baby will know love and kindness, friendship and sacrifice, and I’d rather my baby grow up knowing those than having wealth. As much as a pain in the arse you are, you wouldn’t be Ron without it, you wouldn’t be my best friend. I’m not saying we can just jump back into being the way we were before, I can forgive but I can’t forget and it’s going to take time until I trust you completely.”

“You really forgive me?”

“Yes, I do, I’m pregnant, and I can’t get through it without my best friend.” His eyes fell to her stomach and it was bigger than the last time he saw her.

“How long do you have left?”

Her hand came up to her stomach and she smiled. “Not long now, about two months, maybe longer.”

“Bloody hell,” he muttered and she laughed at him.

“Yeah, hopefully, the next time we see each other neither you nor Harry will be injured and it will be under better circumstances. I’ve forgiven you, now take the Sleeping Draught and let your body heal.”

“Fine,” he muttered childishly.

She helped him to take the potion and he was out within minutes. She covered him with a blanket and grabbed her coat; slipping it back on and she made her way out of the tent, where she found Harry and George sat by the lit fire under a tree and talking quietly.

“How is he?” Harry asked, as she approached them and they both stood up.

“He should be fine, but he can’t travel for a few days. The bandages will have to be changed at least twice a day to stop infection and hopefully, he’ll be all healed up within five days. We’ve made some progress with a possible location to a Horcrux, and we’ll find out shortly if we’re right in our suspicions. Until then try to be more careful and remember the Taboo. Do you have enough supplies?”

“We should have enough to last a couple more weeks,” Harry answered.

“Okay, I’ll arrange another drop point in two weeks time along with another coin. We better get back, we’ve been gone too long and if someone gets home before us, we’ll have a panic on our hands.” He laughed at her as she rolled her eyes. “Take care of yourself, Harry.” She said, hugging him tightly and then stepping back and taking George’s hand.

“You’d kill me if I didn’t.”

“I can’t hurt the innocent, but Sirius would probably kill you,” she laughed as he paled and his laughter echoed as she left with George.

~000~000~000~

**The Cottage – Sunday 27th September 1998**

“Do you have it?” Hermione asked hopefully as both Regulus and Orion walked into the library. They shared a grin with each other before Orion removed a goblet from his robe pocket, and she gasped in disbelief.

They'd actually done it! They'd found a Horcrux by tracking it through the locket! Hermione wasn’t allowed to touch the goblet, seeing as no one wanted to risk the dark magic affecting either her or the baby, but she could feel the darkness around it, even from her place sitting on the couch.

“I can’t believe it,” she said amazed.

“Well, it’s thanks to you that we were able to find it, now we know that we’re able to track the others through the locket, we can find the rest. In the meantime, do you think you can destroy it?” Orion asked her.

“I’m not sure; it’ll have to be trial and error.”

“Now that we have another Horcrux we can use that method, we still need the locket to find the others but we can use the goblet, well, if your guard dog says you can,” Orion said amused, looking in his son’s direction.

It was true, since Hermione’s magical depletion, Regulus had been very attentive to her and the health of the baby, much to the amusement of everyone else.

“As long as she doesn’t touch them and remains a safe distance away, she should be fine.”

“Should we do it now?” she asked them.

“Now’s as good as time as any.”

Regulus helped her to stand up and they made their way out of the cottage and onto the grounds. Orion placed the goblet on the ground and Hermione stood fifty feet away from it with them both stood beside her.

“How should I do this?” she asked.

“We know from past experience that spells don’t work, we spent nearly fifteen years trying to destroy the locket with spells, charms and curses,” Orion answered.

“Elemental?”

“It’s our best option, just be careful to pace yourself and don’t push yourself, we can’t risk you upsetting your magical core or the baby.”

“Alright, earth first, see if we can crush it?”

“Worth a try,” Regulus said and they both nodded.

“Okay, here we go.”

Hermione got down onto her knees and pressed her hands into the grass. She created a small crater in the ground which the goblet fell into, before quickly closing the ground back up, the goblet being swallowed up.

“Good job, very well controlled,” Orion praised. “Let’s see if it worked.”

She nodded and opened up the crater once more, before using the air around her to levitate the goblet out of the ground and she closed the crater back up. They all wore disappointment on their faces when the goblet didn’t even show a scratch.

“I’ll try water next, let’s see if we can drown it,” Hermione said.

She levitated the goblet into the air and summoned some water from the lake. She plunged the goblet into the water and held it in place for several minutes. She pulled the water away from the goblet and sent it back to the lake and the goblet was revealed, once again, it had no effect.

“We’ll try lightning next, let’s see if the bastard can withstand electrocution,” Hermione scowled.

Her lightning conjuring was her most difficult element to control, but knowing how important it was to be able to destroy the Horcrux; she put her entire focus into summoning it.

A lightning bolt shot down from the sky and hit the goblet with perfect aim. The goblet flew into the air before landing back on the ground. Smoke cleared to show the goblet once again in perfect condition.

“Oh come on,” Hermione growled frustrated and without her realising it, fire shot out of her fingertips and swarmed around the goblet.

When she saw through the dancing flames that the goblet wasn’t affected, her anger grew and as a result, the fire grew in size and the heat could be felt coming off it even from their distance of fifty feet away.

She could see the metal slowly beginning to melt and warp and hope filled her, she pushed everything she had into the flames and a sudden screech was heard and black, inky smoke swarmed around them. Hermione let out an ear-piercing scream and she collapsed in exhaustion, but Regulus caught her before she could hit the floor. Her scream had pushed away the black smoke and they could breathe without issue.

The flames disappeared.

“Did I get it?” she asked, her breathing heavy and sweat shining on her forehead.

Orion looked at her amazed. “You did it,” he whispered in awe, his eyes darting between her and the puddle that was the only remains of Riddle’s soul. “We can destroy the Horcruxes, we can end this war.”

“We have to find the rest first,” Hermione pointed out as Regulus helped her to get her balance, he cast several diagnostic spells and once he was satisfied that Hermione was fine, together they walked back to the cottage.

“We know that Nagini is a Horcrux, we know that the goblet, ring and diary have been destroyed and we have the locket, that’s five Horcruxes,” Hermione said. “The diary was in the possession of Lucius Malfoy, the ring was found at the old residence of His Uncle, Nagini is kept by his side, the locket was hidden in a cave, where was the goblet?”

“Bellatrix’s vault,” Orion answered her.

“Bellatrix was his right hand, he trusts her, and he trusted Lucius before his first downfall, the residence of his Uncle was important to him as was the cave. These are all important parts of his life and if we go along with the assumptions that he used items belonging to the Founders of Hogwarts, which leaves Gryffindor and Ravenclaw. As a Slytherin, he would never lower himself to using something belonging to Gryffindor, eliminating the sword, which just leaves Ravenclaw. Does Ravenclaw have anything of historical importance?”

Thoughtful looks appeared on their faces as they entered the cottage and returned to the library taking their seats.

“Wait, I remember it being mentioned that there was a crown,” Regulus said with a frown.

“A diadem,” Orion muttered. “There was a diadem, but no one has seen it in centuries.”

Hermione frowned. “He found it and he hid it, but where?” They all looked at each other. “Let’s start tracking it,” she suggested.

They agreed and the locket was summoned and they cast their newly invented Tracking Spell on it. After an hour of no results, Hermione was getting tired and so she left Regulus and Orion to continue with their tasks, whilst she went to her room to take a nap.

“Hermione? Hermione?” Hermione made a noise of protest at the sound and she heard a chuckle. “Hey, Kreacher’s making dinner.”

She ignored the voice and felt the mattress dip as Fred laid down beside her. She automatically snuggled into him the best she could given her stomach and his arms wrapped around her, one resting on her stomach. Her eyes fluttered open to see Fred’s turquoise eyes shining with happiness and she felt their baby squirming around inside of her, reacting to the touch of Fred.

The mattress behind her dipped and George slid onto the bed and wrapped his arms around her.

“How’s our boy doing?” George asked her.

“It could be a girl,” she corrected, “And the baby is fine, we were both sleeping until someone woke us up,” she grumbled and they chuckled at her, both placing kisses to her cheeks.

“We’re sorry, we know how much you and the baby like your naps,” Fred said amused.

Hermione sighed and closed her eyes, happy to be snuggled into her husbands.

“Just think two months from now and we’ll be meeting our baby,” she said softly.

“Yeah, our little Luke.”

“Not Luke,” both Fred and Hermione said.

“Definitely Michael,” Fred said.

“No,” Hermione and George spoke.

“We’re never going to agree on a name,” he chuckled.

They fell into silence until Hermione spoke.

“I was thinking Alex.”

“Alex?” the twins questioned.

“Hmm, Alex, it works for either a girl or a boy. Alexandra for a girl and Alexander for a boy.”

“Alex, I like it,” George commented with a smile.

“Yeah, it’s not a name you hear often in the Wizarding World either,” Fred nodded.

“Then I guess Alex will soon be brought into the world,” Hermione spoke.

“And before we know it attending Hogwarts.” George chuckled.

“Hogwarts,” Hermione muttered.

“Sorry?”

“Hogwarts,” she said louder and she sat up quickly, shuffled off the bed and rummaged through the bedside table until she found what she was looking for.

She turned to face Fred and George, “Hogwarts!” she squealed excitedly and then she left the room heading down the stairs where she bumped into Sirius.

“Where’s the fire?” he chuckled at her.

“Hogwarts!” she said excitedly, confusing him and she left down the next flight of stairs, but she popped her head back around the corner.

“Alex,” she said,

“What?”

“Alex Weasley-Black; your soon to be Grandchild.”

A smile lit his face. “I can’t wait to meet him.”

“Alex's a unisex name, Alexandra for a girl and Alexander for a boy.”

“You think of everything,” he chuckled and she grinned at him, before turning and making her way to the library were Regulus and Orion were still working on the locket.

“Hogwarts!” she said, making them jump as they hadn’t noticed her arrival.

“What?”

“Hogwarts,” she grinned. She put the parchment on the table and tapped it with her wand. “I solemnly swear that I am up to no good,” she spoke and to their amazement, the parchment turned into a map.

“Is that a map of Hogwarts?” Orion asked surprised.

“Yes, Sirius, Remus and James Potter created it when they were in Hogwarts. It shows all the hidden rooms and secret passageways before Sirius, Remus and James graduated and it shows every person’s movement throughout the castle.”

She took the locket by the chain and placed it on the map, she cast the Tracking Spell and they watched with baited breath as the locket levitated into the air and spun around wildly before dropping onto the table with a ‘clank’.

They looked at each with grins.

“It’s at Hogwarts,” Hermione spoke.

“Where?” Regulus asked.

Hermione looked over the map and frowned. “It’s not showing up on the map which means it’s hidden from view.” She frowned in thought and then it hit her. “The Room of Hidden Things,” she said to them, “it’s located in The Room of Requirement, which is hidden from the map. It’s a perfect place to hide something that you don’t want to be found. It’s basically a magical lost and found.”

“We can get into Hogwarts easily enough if you can tell us how to find this room.”

“It’s on the seventh floor and you’ll find where you need to be due to the large tapestry hanging on the wall and the alcoves with suits of armour wearing the Gryffindor crest. You simply walk back and forth in front of the tapestry three times and think of nothing but The Room of Hidden Things and a door will appear. From there I’m afraid you’re on your own since I don’t know what the diadem looks like, if it is the diadem at all.”

“We’ll take care of it,” Orion said and they stood to leave.

“You’re going now?”

“Yes, the quicker we find it, the quicker it can be destroyed and we’re one step closer to ending this war. Both you and the baby will be safe.”

“Alex.”

“Sorry?”

“Alex. It’s the baby’s name, Alexandra for a girl or Alexander for a boy,” she explained.

“About time you three decided on a name,” Regulus teased her and she scowled at him. “Are you sure you don’t want to know the gender?”

“Yes, we want it to be a surprise, a good surprise, so don’t be blabbing to anyone,” she warned, knowing he knew the gender of the baby being her healer and midwife.

“Wouldn’t dream of it, I don’t want to get set on fire again.”

“That wasn’t me, it was the baby,” she defended.

“Hmmm,” he hummed in disbelief and Orion chuckled at them both.

“We’ll be back soon, hopefully with the diadem,” Orion interrupted and with that they left the room, leaving Hermione to think of a future where the war was over and she and her husbands could raise Alex in a safe environment.

She could feel it in the elements; she could feel it in the atmosphere. The war would soon be over.


	34. Chapter 34

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Page count: 14

**The Cottage - Tuesday 9th December 1997**

Hermione sat on a comfy chair looking out of the window at the falling snow coating every blade of grass on the grounds of the cottage. She was rubbing her stomach which was bigger than ever, seeing as she was almost a week over her due date. It seemed that although the baby had developed at a rate never before seen, it didn’t want to leave the comfort of Hermione’s womb, even after a week of it being completely developed. Regulus was continuously casting diagnostic spells to ensure that the baby was healthy and it was, it just didn’t want to come out yet.

Hermione tilted her head to the side, she slowed down the movements of the falling snow until she could see every individual snowflake, each one as unique as the next and she smiled, appreciating the beauty of nature.

It hadn’t even been two months since they had discovered the identity of another Horcrux and the hiding place. It had taken Orion and Regulus almost two weeks to actually find the diadem and it had taken Hermione all but five minutes to destroy it, leaving them with the locket, Nagini and Voldemort himself. Upon that realisation, the locket was promptly destroyed seeing as no one wanted to be around it more than necessary and they didn’t want the dark magic to have an opportunity to harm Hermione or the baby. This left them with two, and when the locket was destroyed, they all felt a weight lift off their shoulders since they were one step closer to ending the war and defeating Voldemort.

Regulus and Orion had been trying to get close to Nagini since the day the locket was destroyed, but it was difficult. Nagini was never alone and always by the side of Voldemort meaning they had to be careful with their actions, not only could they not be caught by anyone, Nagini was a highly venomous snake that was very capable of defending herself, making the task all the harder, though Hermione had determined that since Nagini was a living creature, if the host of the Horcrux died, then the Horcrux itself would have nothing to cling to, meaning an Avada could be used to destroy the Horcrux, which meant the mission wasn’t a complete loss.

Hermione sighed and she looked around the empty living room, the fire blaring hotly and dancing in fireplace, the flames becoming more active when Hermione looked at it, as if it was trying to get her approval and she giggled before turning her attention back to the darkening sky.

For the first time in as long as she could remember, Hermione was alone. Sirius was once again off on Order business, Regulus and Orion had been summoned before lunch and had yet to return, Kreacher was gathering supplies for Hermione to ready for Harry and Ron’s supply drop and Fred had to go into work seeing as there was an accident at the shop, as a customer had set off several of their newly developed fireworks.

Hermione simply sat in her chair looking out of the window until someone returned. She needed a backrub, she didn’t care who returned first, whoever it was Hermione would make them give her a back rub, her back had been killing her for a little while now. Hermione felt a sudden push on her bladder and with the need to pee being unbearable she got out of her chair and waddled towards the bathroom. She barely made it halfway through the living room when she felt warm liquid running down her leg and she stopped and closed her eyes, breathing in deeply.

She couldn’t believe that she had peed herself!

A pain like she had never felt shot through her and she let out a shout, her hands coming up to her stomach as she doubled over on herself, almost falling over. Her eyes caught the puddle on the floor and that’s when she realised that her waters had broken.

Well, Alex had bloody good timing!

She gave a gasp and only managed to catch herself on the couch before she collapsed.

Bloody hell it hurt!

“Kreacher!” she yelled.

“Mistress!” Kreacher squeaked.

“Get Regulus and the twins!” she gasped, she was barely alone for a minute when several pops were heard and she looked up.

“Someone had better be dying,” Regulus said as he strolled through the front door. “He’s already suspicious of us.”

“My water’s broke,” she growled through her pain and his eyes widened.

“Fuck him,” he muttered and then he rushed to her side, his wand-waving over her frame faster than she could take notice of and she noticed that Orion was there to, sat on the armchair looking pale.

“Hermione? What’s going on?” her eyes caught onto Fred’s as he stepped out of the floo, followed by George.

“Alex has decided we’ve waited long enough,” she gripped her stomach and their eyes widened, they stood rooted to the spot.

“Well, your timing is as ever, impeccable,” Regulus muttered and he grimaced, looking as though he was about to do something that he absolutely didn’t want to do under any circumstances.

“What? Why? Why do you have that look on your face?” she sped out.

“The healer I had planned to deliver the baby was unfortunately executed a few hours ago.”

“WHAT?” Hermione shrieked, breaking the twins out of their shocked states and they rushed to her side.

“The healer that was going to deliver the baby was executed a few hours ago,” he repeated, still looking like he was going to be sick. “It was discovered they were secretly healing members from the Order.”

“Where the hell does that leave me?” she demanded, gripping the twins’ hands as another contraction hit her and they both winced.

“I’m going to have to deliver the baby.”

“There is not a chance in hell you’re getting anywhere near _there,_ ” she hissed.

“Like I want to be anywhere near _there_ ,” he shot back.

“No, Fred or George can do it.”

He snorted at her. “Neither of them are qualified to deliver a baby and with the way your pregnancy has developed, I can’t risk anyone delivering the baby who doesn’t know what they’re doing. If there were to be any complications it could risk the lives of not only you, but the baby, I’m the only option that we have available.”

“No!”

“I don’t know what you’re complaining for! I’m one of the best healers to have trained at St. Mungos. You’ll be in safe hands, I’m the one that’s going to be traumatised for life.”

She glared at him and then a cry tore from her throat.

“Hermione, Love, we know that this situation isn’t ideal, but we have to do what’s best for Alex,” George spoke softly, pushing hair away from her sweaty forehead.

“He’s right, Regulus is the only person that can deliver Alex to us safely,” Fred spoke, rubbing his thumb over her knuckles and rubbing circles on her back.

“Fine!” she growled through the pain. “Just get it over with, it bloody hurts.”

Regulus waved his wand over her body and he frowned.

“When did your first contraction hit?” he asked her.

“I don’t know, maybe twenty minutes ago,” she breathed heavily and leaned into Fred. “Why?”

“According to the results, you’re already seven centimetres dilated. From what I can tell this is going to be a very quick delivery.”

“I guess Alex has decided we’ve waited long enough,” George chuckled and he winced when Hermione’s hand squeezed his tightly as another contraction hit her.

“If my calculations are correct the baby will be delivered within fifteen minutes,” Regulus said, and if he looked concerned no one mentioned it. “We need to get you comfortable.” He transfigured the couch into a hospital bed and Hermione was shifted until she felt comfortable, the twins sat beside her holding her hand and whispering her comforts, as Regulus summoned potions and blankets and deposited them on the coffee table. 

He had Fred and George remove Hermione’s robes and her hair was pulled into a mess onto of her head to keep it out of her face.

“Okay, we’re almost there, you’re nine centimetres dilated.”

Everyone was on edge and silent as they listened to Hermione’s heavy breathing, her gasps and her shouts of profanities, whilst Regulus prepared to deliver the baby.

He removed his robes and rolled the sleeves of his shirt up to his elbows, he placed his wand on the bed and got into position. He felt nausea swarm through him as he shifted Hermione’s dress and everyone noticed him pale.

“You’re not going to pass out are you?” Fred asked him, amusement in his eyes, which was replaced with a wince.

“Hopefully not,” he mumbled and he took a deep breath and reminded himself that it had to be done, whilst also trying to convince himself that he was not delivering his niece’s baby.

“Alright, you’re ten centimetres, when I tell you to push do so.... now!”

Hermione collapsed against the bed, Fred and George surrounding her as tears leaked down her red face, as fallen curls stuck to her forehead and neck and as her breathing was heavy and uneven.

The lit flames in the fireplace suddenly flared up, reaching out of the fireplace and towards Hermione, surrounding the bed before retreating and dancing uncontrollably in the fireplace.

A cry was heard as Regulus cast spells over the baby and he wrapped it in a white blanket. Fred and George both had tears leaking out of their eyes whilst Orion still sat on the armchair, looking pale and traumatised, but a smile on his face.

“I would like to introduce you to Alexander,” Regulus beamed, looking to be holding back tears himself as he handed the baby to Hermione.

She took him and gave a laugh-cry as Fred and George beamed on either side of her, looking down at their son in absolute adoration.

“Told you,” they both mumbled with smiles adorning their faces.

Hermione didn’t think it was possible to love someone as much as she loved the twins, but then their son was placed into her arms.

Alex had a thick head of fiery red hair and bright turquoise eyes, his skin pale and soft and his nose was small and button-like.

“He’s beautiful,” she whispered softly, and she felt Fred and George placing kisses to her cheeks and she smiled.

“Yes, he is, just like his mother,” Fred said.

“He’s a spitting double of you,” she spoke.

“He’s going to be a handsome bloke, break a few hearts, too,” George said proudly.

“No, he will respect women,” Hermione scowled at him and he chuckled.

“Of course he will, but he’ll break a few hearts, he’ll have a fan club.”

“Just like his fathers,” she rolled her eyes and smiled down at the wriggling tiny newborn in her arms.

The door burst open and Sirius rushed in, panting and breathing heavily.

“What’s wrong, Kreacher said Hermione was hurt?” A look of panic and worry in his eyes.

“I’m fine,” she said, her back was to him so he hadn’t yet seen Alex in her arms. She could hear him walking forward. “I’d like to introduce you to _Alexander_ Sirius Weasley-Black,” she smiled at him when he now stood at the side of her.

He looked down at Alex in her arms, then back to Hermione with wide eyes and he fainted, hitting the floor like a sack of potatoes.

“Wonderful,” she muttered and they all laughed.

Hermione smiled down at Alex and placed a kiss to his forehead, she leaned her head back with a smile on her face and her eyes started drooping.

Alarms started going off and Regulus’ happy smile turned to a worried and frantic look as he picked up his wand. Regulus removed Alex from Hermione’s arms and gave him to Fred and then pushed both Fred and George out of the way so he could have better access to Hermione, who was now unconscious.

“What’s happening?” they both yelled panicked, watching as he waved his wand over Hermione faster than they could keep up with and their eyes caught the large bloodstain that covered the sheet on the bed.

“She’s haemorrhaging,” he answered, but other than that he didn’t speak.

Orion was now stood up and standing behind Fred and George, a hand on each other their shoulders in a show of support as tears fell down their face, seeing that their wife and mother of their child was bleeding uncontrollably, pale and unconscious. She was lifeless.

The alarms going off in the room grew louder and Regulus cursed, he doubled his efforts into stopping the bleeding and when he finally managed to stem the flow, he pointed his wand at Hermione’s chest and they all stared as her body gave a lurch, but she didn’t wake. He did it once more with the same results.

He looked at the devastated twins, Fred cradling Alex, George staring at Hermione like he was is unimaginable pain and his father stood behind them, offering them support, but looking like was going to collapse himself.

He had to save her, he couldn’t let her die.

He focused his magic and put everything he had into the spell, for the final time Hermione’s body lurched and although she didn’t move, the alarms quieted and Regulus sighed, waving his wand over her to stabilise her condition. He wiped the sweat away from his forehead and poured several potions down her throat.

“She should be fine now, I’ve stopped the bleeding and stabilised her. As far as I can tell she was haemorrhaging due to a hematoma which is a large blood clot. I’ve removed the clot and given her something to prevent it from occurring again. We just have to wait for her to wake up.”

Relief filled everyone in the room, Fred and George all but collapsed onto the overly large armchair, their eyes darting between Hermione and their son.

Hermione’s eyes fluttered open and her eyesight was blurry until she blinked several times. Her eyes took in her surroundings realising that she was in her bedroom. She sat up in bed feeling better than she had in a long time. Her eyes fell on that of Fred and George, George was sprawled out on the couch asleep, whilst Fred was in the armchair, his head resting at an odd angle that would surely hurt when he woke up. She heard a noise and her eyes landed on Sirius, he was sat in another chair beside the bed, though he had Alex in his arms.

“Hey, how are you feeling?” he said sitting up, being careful not to jostle the sleeping baby, currently wearing a little blue hat and sleepsuit, whilst wrapped in a blue blanket.

“Better, a lot better, what happened? I don’t remember much after you burst in and fainted.”

He chuckled at her. “There were some complications and you suffered haemorrhaging. Regulus was able to heal you and you’ll be completely fine, though you’ve been out for the past four hours. I have to say, Kitten, he’s a handsome little guy.” He looked down at the baby in his arms with a smile on his face and Hermione could practically feel the love and happiness rolling off him in waves.

“Spitting double of his fathers, don’t you think?”

“I was hoping the baby would look more like you, there’s no denying that the minute he’s seen he’d be identified as a Weasley.” She chuckled at him.

“Yeah, but he’s a Black too.”

“I’m so proud of you,” he said, looking up at her and she smiled at him.

“Not as proud as I am of you, you deserve to be a grandfather more than anyone else I know.”

“And you gave me that experience, we now have another member to add to the House of Black, a Little Lord Black in training.” She giggled at him.

He shifted off the armchair and sat beside her on the bed, passing Alex into her arms and her heart melted when he snuggled into her, letting out a little yawn in his sleep.

“He really is perfect,” Sirius commented, smiling when Alex latched onto his finger in his sleep.

“Yes, he is, and now that he’s here, in this world, it’s time to stop messing around and deal with Him once and for all. I will not raise my son in a world of war.”

“Are we any closer to winning?”

“Closer than we’ve ever been, not long now,” she promised him and she looked down at her son. “Welcome to the world, Alex.”

~000~000~000~

**Aunt Muriel’s Cottage - Wednesday 10th December 1997**

“Fred, George, what are you doing here?” Mr Weasley said, walking into the living room of Aunt Muriel’s cottage to greet them as they stepped out of the floo, Mrs Weasley wasn’t far behind him.

“You shouldn’t be here, you can’t leave Hermione alone in her state!” Mrs Weasley raged, her face turning red.

“What state would that be, Molly?” Hermione said lightly and the twins beamed as they stepped apart, to reveal Hermione standing behind them with Alex in her arms.

Mrs Weasley gasped loudly and Mr Weasley’s eyes widened in shock.

“Oh My Goodness,” she whispered, her eyes staring at the blue bundle in Hermione’s arms.

“Molly, Arthur, I would like to introduce you to your Grandson, Alexander Sirius Weasley-Black,” she said looking down at him with a smile and the twins put their arms around Hermione, beaming widely.

“We’re fathers,” they grinned.

Mrs Weasley burst into tears and stepped forward, Hermione placed Alex into her arms and Mrs Weasley sat down on the couch, Mr Weasley sat beside her as they both cooed over their Grandson.

“I have a Grandson,” she cried, cradling him to her as Alex latched onto Mr Weasley’s finger.

“How? When?” she asked amazed, looking up at them.

“Yesterday, he was born at half-past nine on the dot,” Hermione replied, leaning into her husbands.

“He’s beautiful, Dear, absolutely beautiful.”

“Just like his mother,” the twins both injected and they kissed Hermione’s cheek, she smiled at them both.

~000~000~000~

**Malfoy Safehouse**

“What did I say about coming by unannounced?” Draco scowled, as Fred and George entered the cottage, they beamed at him in response.

“We know you love us, Malfoy, everyone needs a redhead in their lives,” George grinned.

“Maybe, but I have six,” he scowled in reply.

“Seven actually,” Hermione piped up, stepping out from behind the twins, with Alex in her arms and his eyes widened, he looked like he was going to faint.

“Draco, this is your cousin, Alexander,” she beamed at him and he stumbled back until his legs hit the couch.

Fred and George laughed at him as he looked completely surprised when Hermione walked over to him and placed Alex in his arms, whilst Fred and George found seats elsewhere.

“Relax, Draco, you’re not going to hurt him,” she said chuckling when she saw how uncomfortable he looked at having the baby in his arms. She showed him how to hold him correctly and she smiled. “See, you’re a natural.” She noticed the soft look that appeared on his face when Alex latched onto his finger.

“Draco, I thought I heard...” Mrs Malfoy entered the room, looking as regal as ever with her dark and fitted robes and blonde hair pinned back elegantly. She stopped when she saw Hermione, the twins and the baby boy being held by Draco.

“Narcissa, would you like to meet your new cousin?” Hermione beamed, Mrs Malfoy burst into tears and all but wrestled Alex from Draco.

~000~000~000~

**Lupin Cottage**

“Remus, are you here?” Hermione called, as she stepped out of the floo, followed by the twins.

“Hermione, is that you?” his voice called and she followed it into the kitchen, seeing him, Tonks and Andromeda sat at the table eating lunch.

Remus promptly dropped his fork when she entered carrying Alex.

“So, I had the baby,” she said.

“So I see,” he said quietly, looking like he wanted to faint.

“You want to hold him?” she asked, but she didn’t give him a choice as she deposited Alex in his arms.

“I see you had a boy then,” he spoke, looking down at the blue bundle adoringly.

“Yes, this is Alexander.”

“A lovely name, Dear,” Andromeda smiled, looking at the child with a smile and cooing at him over the table.

“Thank you,” Hermione responded.

“I owe Sirius fifty galleons,” Tonks grumbled, but she too was cooing over Alex.

“Sorry?” Hermione raised an eyebrow.

“We had a pool going on the gender of the baby. I thought it’d be a girl,” she said.

“Me too,” Andromeda spoke.

“And me,” Remus said, looking up at Hermione sheepishly when she scowled at them. She couldn’t believe they had been betting on the baby. 

“And who the hell started this baby pool?” she asked them, crossing her arms.

Fred and George promptly disappeared from view.

~000~000~000~

**Drop point**

“Where the bloody hell are they?” George grouched, “It’s bloody cold,” he said, shifting on his feet. Hermione giggled at the pout on his face and Fred rolled his eyes, pulling the blanket snug around Alex, who he was currently cradling and cooing at.

Hermione pulled her wand and cast Warming Charm over them all, the falling snow was already falling around them since she had manipulated the elements to do so, as a result, they stayed dry and warm and they had a nice view too.

“Hermione?” she spun around and smiled widely when she saw both Harry and Ron stepping into the clearing, Ron looking far better than the last time she had seen him.

“Harry, Ron,” she greeted with a smile and she walked over to them, hugging them both tightly.

“Hermione, can’t breathe,” Harry gasped.

“Sorry,” she pulled back sheepishly.

“Not that we’re not grateful for the provisions, but we’re not due for another drop point for a week,” he said, looking at her confused.

“We have some news,” she said, gesturing to Fred and George and they only just noticed they were there too. “We had some news to share with you,” she said and Fred stepped forward. “You’re officially uncles,” she grinned.

Ron fainted, Fred and George snorted whilst Hermione rolled her eyes. Harry was in a state of disbelief but he was in better condition than Ron; he was still conscious and standing on two feet.

“Well, Harry, seeing as you’re still standing, you get to hold your nephew first,” Fred said stepping closer and depositing Alex into an unwilling Harry’s arms.

Hermione chuckled when she saw the panic on his face.

“Relax, Harry, you’re not going to hurt him,” she soothed, adjusting his arms to better hold Alex and then she stepped back. “Harry, meet Alexander.”

“He’s so tiny,” he mumbled, looking at the baby in awe.

“It didn’t feel that way,” she grumbled, the twins chuckled and put their arms around her.

“Yeah, my hand still hurts,” George said.

“When you push another human being out of your vagina, then you can complain about the _pain_ you felt during my labour,” she glared at him. Fred chuckled and soothed her with a kiss to the cheek as George looked sheepish.

“Remember, Love, foot in mouth syndrome,” he smirked in George’s direction.

Hermione turned her attention back to Harry.

“There’s another reason I’m here actually,” he looked up at her. “The locket has been destroyed, so has the diadem of Ravenclaw.”

“You estimated that he had seven, that just leaves Nagini and himself, we can come home.” Harry looked relieved.

“I’m afraid not Harry,” she said softly. “My informants have told me this morning that there may be another Horcrux and like the others, we don’t know where it is or what it is.”

His face dropped and he looked down at Alex in his arms.

“I’m doing everything in power to end this war, Harry. We all want you to come home and to be safe, the war will be over soon, that I promise.”

“How do you know?” he asked her, and in that moment he looked like a young child, and not a seventeen-year-old.

“I can feel it in the elements, they're on our side, they'll do anything I ask them to,” she said softly. “I will not let this war go on for much longer.”

“Hermione, you have to stay neutral, we don’t know the consequences of you actively choosing a side.”

“There are ways for me to stay neutral but still be active in this war,” she smirked at him and he looked confused.

“What happened?” they looked down as Ron slowly sat up, looking around confused.

They snorted at him.

“Well, Ronniekins, we introduced you to your nephew and you passed out,” George smirked at him.

Hermione took Alex from Harry and knelt down, placing Alex careful in Ron’s arms, he looked like he was going to faint again.

“Ronald, meet your nephew, Alexander.”

~000~000~000~

**The Cottage - Saturday 7th March 1998**

Months later and the war was raging more than ever. The number of deaths, injuries and attacks had almost doubled since Christmas. They had yet to discover the identity of the last Horcrux and Regulus and Orion hadn’t yet been able to get close enough to Nagini to destroy her.

Due to the circumstances, Fred and George had closed Weasley’s Wizard Wheezes and they spent all of their time in their lab working on new products or with Hermione and Alex.

Given that Alex was barely three months old, he was already laughing, smiling and lifting his head up by himself and Fred swore that he saw Alex roll over onto his stomach. He was a distraction that everyone needed, Remus had been right; Alex kept everyone motivated and he reminded everyone what they were fighting for.

He was the most spoilt little boy in the world and she knew it. He was spoilt by his parents, by Orion and Sirius, by Mrs Weasley, by Draco and Mrs Malfoy, by Remus and Tonks, by Kreacher and the most amusing was Regulus. Most of the time Hermione had to threaten to set him on fire just to get her son back from him. He would pout childishly and be in a foul mood for the rest of the day until Alex somehow found his way back into his arms.

They had all noticed that whenever Alex was close to the fireplace or an open flame, the flames would flare up and make their way over to him. They weren’t sure if it was Hermione’s doing or Alex’s, but the older Alex got, the more frequently happened. At first, they were horrified, but the flames had never hurt Alex, it was as if they were protecting him. If Alex was placed on the floor surrounded by blankets and cushions, the flames would swarm around him until someone went to pick him up and then they would retreat to the fireplace.

Hermione swore that it wasn’t her doing, but they couldn’t be sure since Hermione’s magic had a tendency to do as it wished.

Despite the awful ongoings in the world, Hermione was on cloud nine, she was always surrounded by her mates and her child, and although a fertility potion was used, Alex was a product of her love with her mates and that’s the way she looked at things. She had long since forgiven Snape for betraying her, she understood that he was doing what he could to protect her, though she was still going to set him on fire when she next saw him.

“Morning, Kitten, boys” Sirius said, taking a seat at the kitchen table beside her, whilst the twins sat opposite them.

“Morning,” they replied smiling.

“Right, pleasantries are over, give me my Grandson,” he said, holding his arms out to Fred.

Fred chuckled and handed Alex over to Sirius, who forgot about the breakfast on the table and proceeded to coo over him.

Hermione smiled and shook her head before going back to eating her breakfast.

“Where’s Orion and Reggie?” Sirius asked, his attention still on Alex.

“Still asleep, they didn’t get back until a couple of hours ago, He kept them most of the day and all night, they’re exhausted and need their sleep, so don’t be interrupting them,” Hermione warned, pointing her fork in his direction.

“I would never,” he exclaimed.

“You would too and you know it,” she said and they chuckled.

The coin in her pocket heated up and she stood and removed it.

_‘Help! Malfoy Manor!’_

Hermione dropped her fork and paled.

“I have to go, Ron and Harry are in trouble, I’ll be back as soon as I can,” she told them. Before anyone could protest or even try to go with her, she disappeared from view.

~000~000~000~

**Malfoy Manor**

Hermione landed in the ballroom that she was familiar with and seeing that it was empty, she turned to the doors, casting a Disillusionment Charm on herself and she left out the door, she could hear screams and she followed them.

She came to some double doors and without thought, she summoned the air around her and used it to push the doors open. They went flying off the hinges and they flew across the room, only to hit several Death Eaters and they crushed them to the floor.

Harry was being restrained by two burly looking Death Eaters, he had several cuts on his face and arms and his face was swollen as if he had been stung by a thousand bees. Ron was on the floor, a pool of blood surrounding him as Bellatrix leaned over him.

She looked around confused, a deranged look in her eyes.

Hermione cancelled the Disillusionment Charm and she appeared in view. A look of anger was on her face, her kind and soft features were set hard and cold.

Hermione could feel the tension in her body, she could feel her magic building up inside of her and before anyone could react to her appearance, a bolt of lightning came out of nowhere and slammed into Bellatrix, she was thrown away from Ron and the direction she was being carried in took her out of the window. The glass shattering and Hermione heard a ‘thud’ as she hit the floor.

The other Death Eaters took one look at Hermione and fled, apparating out of the room with a ‘crack’.

Hermione rushed over to Ron and Harry followed, she took a hold of both of them and disappeared from view.

~000~000~000~

**The Cottage**

They landed in the centre of the living room and everyone jumped up from the table when they saw Harry and Ron. Sirius handed Alex to George and rushed over to Harry, helping him onto an armchair whilst Fred and George made their way over to them. Ron had passed out during the journey.

“REGULUS!” Hermione yelled. The air around her helping to carry the sound through the cottage, she heard a ‘thud’ from upstairs before footsteps came barrelling down the stairs.

Orion and Regulus both appeared with their hair sticking out at odd angles, their pyjamas ruffled and their wands in their hands, looking wide awake and ready for battle.

“What is it?” They asked quickly, a wild look in their eyes.

“Ron needs healing, he’s been tortured by Bellatrix,” she said quickly, Regulus rushed forward and tended to Ron, whilst Harry gawked as his face slowly began to return to normal.

“But... But... That’s... It can’t be...” he stuttered.

“It is, Harry, meet Regulus and Orion Black,” Hermione said moving away from Ron knowing that he was in good hands and sitting down on the couch.

“But... But... They’re dead.” He looked at her with utter horror, disbelief and confusion.

“No, they faked their deaths, you may know them as Agents Comet and Jugulae.” His eyes widened further. “They are our spies and they have been since the first war. I told you that I trusted them with my life, they defected from Him as quickly as they could and they offered themselves up as spies to The Order, though no one but Snape knew their true identities.”

“But...”

“Harry,” Sirius spoke, gaining his attention. “Just accept that they’re alive and that they’re here. They are trustworthy and they have been helping Hermione with the secret mission that was given to you by Dumbledore.”

“R.A.B, Harry,” Hermione spoke. “Regulus Arcturus Black.” Harry fell silent, looking between Regulus and Orion.

“He’ll be fine, he just needs a few days rest,” Regulus spoke, coming into the living room. Ron had been moved into Alex’s nursery for now, until he was better. Another bed would be set up for Harry and Alex would stay with Hermione and the twins.

“Thank you, Reggie,” Hermione said, handing Alex over to him and a smile appeared on his face as he looked down at Alex.

Hermione sighed and rubbed her temples.

“I’m tired of this,” she said, exhausted. “I’m tired of all the suffering people are being forced to endure. I’m tired of all the murder, torture and attacks. We can’t let this go on any longer.”

“What do you suggest?” Orion spoke, raising an eyebrow and taking a sip of tea, Harry had been staring at him for the last ten minutes.

“We end this war. No more defence, it’s time that we go on the offence. We take the fight to Him, we will be the ones to enforce the final battle.”

“We’re not ready,” Regulus spoke up.

“We’re as ready as we’ll ever be. If we destroy Him now, that’ll leave Nagini vulnerable as well as giving us more time to find the final Horcrux, if there even is one. It was just a rumour you heard, it doesn’t mean it’s true.”

“And how do you plan to force Him out of hiding and instigate the final battle?” Sirius asked her.

“I know exactly how to do it, Hogwarts is overrun with Death Eaters, we force them out and take control of Hogwarts once more. He will have no choice to come out into the open, especially if both Harry Potter and The Blue Mage are present. A week, we’ll end this was in a week’s time. Sirius, inform the rest of the Order of the plans, we need to prepare for battle.”


	35. Chapter 35

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Page count: 14

**The Cottage – Saturday 14th March 1998**

“Are we all clear on the plan?” Hermione asked from her place standing on top of the kitchen table, looking around at The Order members that were currently stuffed into her cottage. There had to be at least fifty present and some of them she had never even met before, and yet she knew that there were already Order members posted nearby Hogwarts, waiting for the signal.

Everyone nodded in response and she noticed they all stood taller and had their wands at the ready.

“This is our chance to end this war and destroy Him for good. It’s not going to be easy, some of us will be injured, some of us will die and we will witness horrific things tonight. But it’s important that we remember why we are fighting and who we are fighting for.” She knelt down and took her dozing son from Fred and she stood up, everyone but family looking confused. “I, Hermione Weasley-Black, am fighting for a better world, I am fighting for all of you, for my family, for my mates and husbands, and for my son.” The room filled with gasps, looking at her in complete surprise since it had been a well-kept secret that she was pregnant, to be honest, she was surprised Ginny hadn’t blabbed about it, but everything had gone perfectly.

“I, Fred Weasley,” he spoke, climbing up onto the table to stand beside her. “I am fighting for our future where our children will be safe. I am fighting for my family, for my wife and my son.”

“And I, George Weasley,” he climbed up onto the table also standing on the other side of her. “I’m fighting to keep laughter and joy alive. I’m fighting for my family, for my wife and for my son,” he spoke proudly, the twins putting their arms around her.

“I’m fighting to end this war,” the crowd parted and Harry stepped forward. “I’m fighting so that we can live without darkness, so we are free to live and do as we please. So that no one has to suffer, or be tortured or murdered. I’m fighting for my family,” he eyes flickering between Sirius and The Weasleys, “I’m fighting for my sister and my nephew,” he spoke, his eyes looking at Hermione and Alex and she nodded at him, tears threatening to spill.

“If anyone harms my children, the apron’s coming off and the spoon’s coming out,” they all turned towards the voice and were surprised to see it was Mrs Weasley that had spoken.

Fred and George looked at each other and then started laughing and clapping.

“Mum made a joke! It’s a sign,” Fred said.

“Yeah, it’s a miracle, which must mean we’re going to win this,” George spoke, causing everyone to erupt into laughter, whilst Mrs Weasley scowled.

For the next ten minutes, one by one, someone stepped forward explaining why they were fighting and the longer it went on, the more light-hearted the atmosphere became and the sillier the reasons were. One person said they were fighting for a future where a better brand of fire whiskey could exist, whilst another said they were fighting for better tasting food, since everyone was on rations as Voldemort controlled what came in and out of the country.

Once everyone had calmed down Hermione looked at the clock seeing that it was time.

“Alright everyone, get to your places, we’re about to force the final battle, I have two spies that are in the ranks of Death Eaters,” they looked surprised at the news. “They have been spies for The Order far longer than Snape has been and I trust them both with my life. They will be at the final battle and they have been given a very important mission to complete, which will be pivotal in the downfall of Him. I have marked them, should any of you come into contact with them, you will know that they are on our side. When duelling with them, don’t try to kill them, but you must make it look real for their safety, they will not be ousted until after the final battle and they are safe.” After her words, one by one everyone left the cottage, heading to their agreed places, until that left only Harry, Ron, Fred and George, Hermione and Sirius.

They climbed off the table and Hermione handed Alex to George, before moving over to Harry and Ron, hugging them both tightly.

“You know the plan?” she asked them both.

“Yes, Hermione,” Ron rolled his eyes. “You’ve drilled it into us, I don’t think I’m ever going to forget it, even if I wanted too,” she scowled at him.

They shared a look, this is what they had been fighting towards for the past six years, and it was finally upon them. This would be the last obstacle until they could all start over again. Until they could all be happy and safe. Until they could be free and make their own decisions, without any pressure, any death or danger.

With one last hug, Harry and Ron left also and then she went over to Fred and George. She took Alex from them and looked down at him, peaceful in his sleep and completely oblivious to the ongoings in the outside world, or that this may be last time he ever saw his parents again.

She felt tears welling up in her eyes.

“I love you so much, and whether I am here in life, or dead and in the afterlife, you will never be alone and I will always love you. I will always make sure you are protected and loved and cared for. You will not know pain and suffering, or cold and hunger. You will be loved and you will be safe,” she placed a kiss to his forehead, sniffling and she handed him to Fred, allowing him to say his goodbyes to his son, just in case they didn’t make it.

She walked over to Sirius and hugged him tightly.

“I love you and I can’t be any more grateful for what you have done for me, and what you have given me,” she whispered.

“You’ve done for me for me than I have for you,” he replied quietly. “And adopting you is the best decision I have ever made, you are one of the best things to ever happen in my life, and you will always be my daughter,” he confessed.

She pulled back from him tears falling freely and seeing that he wore the same sad expression on his face.

“I need you to stay here.”

“What? There is not a chance in hell I am staying here whilst my daughter and godson are out fighting a war.” He looked angry that she had even suggested it.

She shook her head and wiped away her tears. “Please, I need you to stay here, I need someone I can trust, I need someone that I know is capable of loving and caring for Alex,” his eyes widened. “If anything happens to me and the twins, we have all agreed that it will be you that will get full custody of Alex. Not Mr and Mrs Weasley, but you. I need you to stay here and protect my son and your grandson. I can’t win this war if I am distracted and worried about his safety, but I know that you care for him and I know you love him. It’s bad enough that I’ll be worrying about the twins but they refuse to stay behind, I don’t want to be worrying about you or Alex too. I’ll be in a better frame of mind and better focused if I know that both you and Alex are safe. I know that you want to finish what you started and I know that you want revenge for James and Lily, but it’s our time now, and I will make sure that everyone responsible is taken of. I need you to protect Alex.”

The anger inside of him dissipated and filled with sadness and fear.

“Just come back to us safely,” he said quietly. She hugged tightly and then stepped back, watching as George placed their sleeping son into Sirius’ arms and they stood beside her, taking her hands in theirs.

“Be careful, look after each other and come back to us,” Sirius said. The twins and Sirius shared a look, before looking down to Hermione, she could see the determination, worry and fear on their faces and she squeezed their hands.

She felt her galleon heat up in her pocket and pulled it out.

 _Now!_ It read.

“It’s time,” she spoke and with one last look to Sirius and Alex, she disappeared in her tornado.

~000~000~000~

**Hogwarts**

They landed in the room of requirements which was filled with Order members and students rushing about, some she recognised like Neville and Seamus, Lavender and Pavarti, others she didn’t. Hermione kissed the twins on their cheeks and then transported herself just outside the great hall doors, where she knew most of the school was convened because Harry had intentionally set off the wards in Hogsmeade, with the help of Dumbledore’s brother, he had been snuck into the castle through a secret passageway.

“Where is Potter?” she heard Snape demand, his voice echoing through the hall and there were sudden gasps.

Hermione waited for Harry to give the signal and he did. The doors slammed open, banging against the stone walls and everyone turned to sound.

Hermione stood there, a bored look on her face and she walked into the hall, the crowd of students parting for her. Some looked hopeful, someone fearful and others surprised when they saw her.

She stopped next to Harry and stared Snape down, noticing that several of the Death Eater professors shifted nervously on their feet and they had pulled their wands after her arrival.

“It’s time for you to leave,” her voice rang clear.

Just as they raised their wands McGonagall stepped in front Harry protectively and Hermione felt pride and awe fill her when two of the Death Eaters had been knocked out by a single spell. She forced Snape into a duel and Hermione allowed her magic to take care of the others, stood against the walls of the hall and surrounding the students.

Harry grinned at her when he saw that she had barely blinked and they were out cold.

Snape’s eyes darted between her and Harry before he deflected McGonagall’s curse and apparated, leaving Hogwarts once again, free from the control of Voldemort.

The students erupted into cheers and applause.

“Well, I’m glad to see that part of the plan went well,” Hermione said lightly. Harry snorted; as if Hermione’s meticulous plans would fail. “Time for part two. We are now in control of Hogwarts and He will know, he will know that we are both here and it’s too much of a temptation for him to resist. My guess, we an hour at most, we need to secure the castle, strengthen the protective magic surrounding it and get anyone below the age of seventeen out of the castle for safety, if not the dungeons are our best option of keeping them safe, we can defend it much easier and no one tends to go down there anyway.”

“It’s good to have you back, Mrs Weasley-Black,” McGonagall commented, a rare smile stretching her face, even as her hat was almost falling off due to her duelling with Snape. “You seem far more protective over the younger students,” she observed.

“Haven’t you heard, Professor, I’m a mother now?” Harry sniggered as McGonagall’s eyes widened and her mouth opened, showing more emotion than he had ever seen from her.

“You’re pregnant, you can’t be here, if anything...”

Hermione cut her off with a wave of her hand. “No, professor, I was pregnant, but no more. I gave birth three months ago to a healthy baby boy, which we have named Alexander, so we need to win this war in order for you to be able to teach my son, just as you did me, and his fathers, and his Grandfather. Oh, and he’s a spitting double of the twins, just warning now.”

“But how?”

“It’s a long story, of which I will explain later with a nice cup of tea, oh, and some shortbread, I’ve grown quite partial to shortbread after my pregnancy cravings.” Hermione leaned up and straightened her hat for her. “Come on, Professor, time to put your game face on,” McGonagall cleared her throat before nodding to them both and turning on her heel, beginning to shout off orders to staff members and older students.

“Hermione!” she turned to see Neville rushing towards her and she smiled at him.

“Hey Neville, I hear you’ve done wonderfully keeping the other students safe over the past year,” he blushed under her praise.

“It was nothing,” he mumbled shyly. “Fred said that you have a mission for me.”

“I do and it’s going to require Seamus and his amazing ability to blow up everything he touches,” she grinned.

~000~000~000~

Voldemort had arrived exactly an hour after Hermione had predicted and when it was made clear to him that neither she nor Harry would be given up for the safety of the others, the start of the final battle began.

Hermione was stood in the astronomy tower, on the small balcony where she had a good advantage point and she could see the battlefield below. She knew there wasn’t much she could do with her elemental magic to reinforce the protective shields, so she waited until they were broken.

When she heard and saw the explosion over at the bridge, she knew the time had finally come. She took a deep breath, and absentmindedly rested her hand against her now flat stomach and she frowned to herself when she caught herself doing so.

She shook her head and her eyes narrowed, as hundreds of Death Eaters ran onto Hogwarts grounds, heading straight towards the others who were stood on the front line waiting.

Her eyes flickered to the Black Lake and she waited, waited for them to get closer. Just as they were about to collide with everyone fighting for the light, Hermione lifted her hand and summoned the element of water, watching as the water of The Black Lake began to ripple and splash about. Suddenly it flew up and like a tsunami, it travelled across the grounds and stopped the Death Eaters from getting any closer to the castle, as there was a very effective water barrier between them.

She knew that some of them had likely died from drowning as several of them had been caught in the waves. She held it up as long as could but the strain on her magic was painful and her muscles were weakening from trying to contain the large body of water, but she couldn’t hold it and the barrier suddenly dropped, before moving back over to the Black Lake and returning to its calm form once again, as if nothing had happened.

She had given her side the upper hand as they were able to take the Death Eaters by surprise, though she did note that there were fewer than before, some had died, some had stayed and others had likely left to find another way around the barrier.

The sound of spells being cast, of screams, of bangs and things shattering carried through the winds and over to her ears, letting her know that the battle was well underway.

From the corner of her eye, she caught sight of dozens of Death Eaters approaching on brooms, shooting curses and Unforgivables in an aerial attack. It was a rather stupid thing to do, when you knew that your biggest threat was practically Mother Nature in human form.

She called upon the element of air and she simply stood and watched as the wind picked up so it was no longer a gentle breeze. She watched as the Death Eaters had to grip onto their brooms as the wind shook them off course, some landing in the lake, some falling off their brooms to the ground and some being pushed away from the castle and back in the opposite direction. She had taken care of the aerial attack and hopefully, they wouldn’t try again.

Hermione’s eyes widened in shock and fear when she saw several giants coming into view, how the hell had he managed to get giants on his side? She could see others already trying to defeat them but she knew it wasn’t going to be that easy.

Checking to see that everything was being handled, she disappeared from the astronomy tower and landed herself in the Forbidden Forrest. She stepped aside as several centaurs rushed past her, their bows already aimed and firing off arrows, hitting their targets with perfect precision. She caught the eye of the last one to pass and he nodded at her, bowing his head slightly in respect and she nodded to him in thanks.

She rushed through the forest finding a selection of particularly large and strong looking trees and she walked over to them. She placed her hand against the rough bark, closing her eyes she summoned the element of earth and asked for its help. The ground beneath her shook in response and when she stepped back, a loud rumble was heard and she gasped in wonder when she saw the tree suddenly uproot and stand, shaking its branches out, like a wet dog does its fur. It was s strange sight to witness; it was a cross between the Whomping Willow and something she had once seen in The Wizard of Oz.

The tree took off, heading straight towards the castle and she slowly repeated the process, animating close to thirty of the largest and strongest trees that she could find. Sensing that her elemental magic was beginning to weaken, she decided to cease using it until it was absolutely necessary. She transported herself away from the forest and landed in a corridor of the castle.

She pulled her wand and her protective instincts flared up when she noticed that three young children were being cornered by two large Death Eaters, whilst another two older students did their best to protect them, but she could see they didn’t have the experience.

Hermione ran forward and sensing her presence, the Death Eaters turned to look at her and since their masks had long since fallen off, she was able to see them pale and fear flashed across their faces.

Hermione used their distraction and had them both unconscious and bound, and she locked them in the broom cupboard. Hermione gave the older students instructions to escort the younger students to the dungeons and she praised them on protecting them, before turning and running down the corridors, helping wherever she could.

She didn’t know how long the battle had been going, she only knew that she was sweaty, dirty and tired, but she couldn’t give up, as far as she could tell, they were evenly matched and they were the best odds they had ever had before. They had a real chance of winning the war.

She rounded a corner, skidding on some blood that had pooled around the dead body of a Death Eater when her ears picked up on Fred’s voice. She turned her head to see Fred and Percy duelling against two Death Eaters she couldn’t see the faces of.

“Do my ears deceive me? Did Percy just make a joke?” he laughed loudly in surprise and glee. “I don’t think I’ve heard you joke since we were...”

And then there was an explosion, a loud bang and she watched as everything happened in slow motion. The wall behind Fred was blown into rubble and a large part of the wall was falling towards him.

“NO!” she let out an ear-piercing scream, the windows in the corridor shattering into millions of pieces, the flames in the torches flaring up dangerously and she vaguely heard the agonizing screams of several people behind her as they were set on fire.

The two Death Eaters they had been duelling were picked up and flown away from Percy and Fred, flying out of the window, and there was no way they’d survive the fall; they were on the fourth floor.

Hermione’s magic acted out without thought, golden and fiery red dust particles, flying through the air until they surrounded Fred, just as the wall fell on him, trapping him underneath.

She sobbed and ran to him, pulling parts of the wall out of the way and when she couldn’t get through to him, she screamed once more and the stone wall crumbled into small pieces which she had cleared away.

She turned Fred so that he lay on his back and she could look down at him. His eyes were closed and there was still a smile on his face, but the energy of her magic was still surrounding him, the red and gold shimmering like diamonds in the sun.

Her hands wandered over his face, feeling his warm skin and catching some blood on her fingers from previous injuries, she could barely focus, but when her hands found his neck and she felt a small ‘thump’ against her fingers, she sobbed in relief. Pressing her ear against his chest, she drowned out the noise of shouts and screams, of someone saying her name and of Voldemort’s voice carrying over the grounds. She felt happiness rage through her body when she clearly heard the sound of Fred’s heart beating, and it was beating strong.

He wasn’t dead, he was alive, and when he came around, she was going kill him for not paying attention.

She jumped and had her wand pressed up against someone’s neck when she felt them touch her shoulder.

She had to blink several times in order to see through her bleary eyes, but she noticed it was Percy and she lowered her wand, forcing herself to listen to what he was saying. She could see his lips moving but she couldn’t hear anything, the sound of the explosion still ringing in ears.

“Is he alive?” she heard, but it was as if she were underwater.

“He’s alive,” she responded, wiping her tears away from her face.

“You-Know-Who’s called off his army, he’s given us an hour to heal our injured and bury the dead. The injured will be in the great hall,” he informed her. She looked around, noticing that although bodies littered the floor, the corridor was empty apart from the three of them.

She nodded and wiped at her eyes, before gently holding onto Fred’s hand and she grabbed Percy’s arm, transporting them to the great hall.

~000~000~000~

Several people stepped out of the way as the tornado suddenly appeared, and they relaxed when they saw that it was only Hermione.

“FRED!” Hermione heard the pain in his voice, and George dropped down beside her, his eyes beginning to water.

“He’s alive, George,” she said softly, her own tears falling. He looked up and seeing her looking distraught but also relieved, he leaned over and pulled her into him, not caring for his own injuries.

“What happened?”

“There was an explosion and the wall collapsed on him. He should’ve died instantly but my magic protected him, I don’t know how, but it kept him safe. He’ll need to be checked over, but his pulse seems to be fine and his heartbeat's strong. I think he may just be unconscious at the moment and he’ll come around eventually.”

He rested his forehead against her, feeling relief fill him.

“I saw what you did with The Black Lake, it was incredible, I have never seen anything like it, but I don’t think The Giant Squid’s impressed with you messing with its territory, it went mental, grabbing Death Eaters in its tentacles and drowning them in the lake. And those trees, I knew the minute I saw them that you had something to do with it.”

She sighed. “You’re hurt,” she whispered, wiping away the blood on his cheek with her thumb and she watched as the skin knitted back together underneath her touch. She pulled away from him and did the same for Fred, his cuts and burns healing instantly, making it look as though he were just sleeping.

“Hermione,” George said softly, and when she looked up at him, she immediately recognised the look on his face.

“Who is it?” she whispered.

“Remus,” he replied and her tears began to fall once more.

Her eyes searched the hall and she landed on Tonks, though she didn’t have the usual bubble gum pink hair, no, it was jet black, showcasing her sadness. She was kneeled on the ground next to a body that was covered with a grey blanket and she held their hand.

“He doesn’t have long left,” he said sadly. Hermione placed a kiss to George’s cheek and then stood and walked over to them, dropping to her knees.

Remus turned his head and gave her a tired, weak smile. His skin was so pale she would think he’d seen a ghost and when she took his hand, she noted that it was cold. Her eyes caught the area on the blanket where blood had seeped through.

“Hey,” he said weakly and she looked back to his face. “Don’t you worry about me; you’ve got more important things to be dealing with.”

“You’re important to me,” she stated with sincerity. “And I’m not going to lose you, I’m not going to let you die. Think about Alex, with both Fred and George and Sirius, he needs the both of us. Did we forget to ask you? We want you to be his Godfather,” she saw the emotions cross his face; happiness that she had even considered him to be a part of Alex’s life, and sadness that he wasn’t going to be there to see him grow.

Tonks looked at her, her eyes red and puffy and with tears flowing down her face. “There’s nothing that can be done for him. The cursed he was hit with is designed to reject all forms of magical healing. The wound will only grow bigger when trying to heal it. From what we can tell, it missed his organs, but he’s going to die of blood loss, the Blood Replenishers can’t keep up with his blood loss and we’re almost out anyway,” she spoke through her tears.

Hermione’s eyes darted around the hall and they landed on the torches, her eyes fell down to Remus, seeing that his eyes were slowly beginning to close.

“So what if we don’t use magic?”

“There is no other way,” Tonks spoke, her anger starting to come through.

“There just might be, I need you to get me some Blood Replenishers, I’ll deal with the rest,” Tonks didn’t move. “I might be able to save him but I need your help.” Tonks reluctantly let go of Remus’ hand and rushed to find what Hermione had asked for.

Hermione shifted to Remus’ other side and she pulled the blanket away from him, seeing the large wound on his side that was pouring blood and didn’t look as though it were going to stop, he was becoming colder and paler by the minute.

“What are you going to do?” Tonks reappeared beside her. “I’m going to use a Muggle method and cauterise the wound. It will be exceptionally painful, but it’s the only thing that has a chance of saving him.” Without waiting for a response, Hermione held out her hand and the flame from the torch floated over to her, landing in her palm.

Hermione took a deep breath and before she could talk herself out of it, with the flame in her hand, she pushed her hand against Remus’ side.

Remus gave an agonised scream, turning all attention to them and Tonks’ tears increased tenfold at seeing his pain. Remus passed out from the pain within in a minute of Hermione touching him. She pulled back her hand to see that the wound had healed, but it still didn’t look good.

“His wound’s healed, he needs the Blood Replenisher and he’ll need to be treated for burns, I don’t know if it’ll work or if it’s only delaying the inevitable but I think it will give him a chance of survival. He just has to hold on now.”

Tonks dragged Hermione into a hug, sobbing against her shoulder.

~000~000~000~

Hermione had just transported Ron and Snape to the great hall, since Snape was currently dying from Nagini’s venom after Voldemort had turned on him. Harry had gone to Dumbledore’s office to use the pensive to view the memories Snape had given him, and they must’ve been important since they were given on his death bed.

“It’s no use,” his voice was weak as Hermione pressed her hands against his neck to stem the bleeding, whilst she waited for Madam Pomphrey to finish tending to her patient before Snape could be seen. “I’ll be dead in a matter of minutes.”

“No, you won’t, you’re not allowed to die, I haven’t had the chance to set you on fire for what you did,” she replied.

He chuckled humourlessly. “Yes, I see that my efforts to protect you were wasted as you are still here in battle. Was the baby healthy?” his eyes were dropping and she replied to keep to him awake, so he had her voice to focus on.

“Yes, but I had some complications during my pregnancy. The baby developed at a rate far faster than ever before seen in a human pregnancy. Conception happened in April, yet the baby was born in December, and he was fully developed, even going so far as to be a week later than my expected due date. I had some complications and suffered some haemorrhaging, but Regulus was able to heal me. I’m now the mother to a three-month-old little boy named Alexander, and I'm currently here fighting a war, when I should be at home with my husbands, watching over our son as he sleeps. I’m not letting Him win, not when I have something so special waiting for me when I get back.”

“I see the mutt isn’t here,” he mumbled and she pressed down harder on his neck, making him hiss.

“He’s at home with Alex, he’s the only person I trust to keep my son safe and to love and protect him if I don’t survive. And now _you_ need to fight to stay alive so that when my son comes to Hogwarts, you can sneer at him and insult his potion making ability simply because he’s the son of Fred and George, and we both know that between myself and the twins, he’ll be a brilliant potioneer.”

“Thank you, Dear, I’ll take over from here,” Madam Pomphrey interrupted and Hermione moved aside. “How’s your child?”

“A healthy, three-month-old little boy, named Alexander and he’s a spitting double of his fathers.”

She chuckled. “Another Weasley then?”

“Sirius is a little put out that he looks more like a Weasley than a Black,” Hermione responded, before standing up and walking over to George, who sat beside Fred waiting for him to wake.

Hermione needed to speak to George but she didn’t know how to broach the subject. Her elemental magic was low and she felt drained, there was a way for her magic to recharge or so to speak, temporarily, as they had witnessed when she had magical power surges when she was intimate with the twins.

George sensing that she was approaching stood up and met her halfway.

“What is it?” he asked seeing the look on her face.

She looked around before taking his hand and transporting them into an empty corridor. She pushed him into an alcove behind a tapestry, hiding them from view of anyone that may pass and she used her wand to cast her blue-bell flames, giving them some light in the darkness.

“You look exhausted,” he commented, his hand tilting her chin up so he could look down at her.

“That’s what I wanted to talk to you about.” He raised an eyebrow. “I’ve used far more of my elemental magic than I ever intended to and it’s very low. The battle isn’t over yet and I’m still going to need to be able to access my power when the respite is over. My elemental power is tapping into my magical core and is draining me. I won’t be able to use my elemental magic to my full potential because I don’t have time to rest and allow it to recharge naturally. But there is a way to give me a temporary source of power, to be able to tap into and channel into my elemental magical.”

His eyes held confusion until something inside clicked and his eyes lit up in understanding.

“You mean when you have a surge of magical power after being with Fred and me,” he nodded and she forced herself not to blush.

“It’s the only way I will be able to use my elemental magic and we both know we need it on our side. I just feel so guilty for bringing it up, especially with the circumstances surrounding us.”

“It’s not your fault,” he took her face in his hands. “And we both know that unlike Freddie, you don’t need to ask me twice,” he smirked down at her. “Who would’ve thought? The only chance we have of winning this war and saving the world is dependent on me ravishing my beautiful wife.”

“Stop that,” she scolded, “We’re in the middle of a battlefield.”

“That doesn’t mean that you’re not beautiful, or that I don’t want to ravish you, because I do,” he cut off her reply by pressing his lips to hers, hiking her up his body and pressing her into the wall. “Now, it’s time for us to save the world,” he muttered against her lips.

~000~000~000~

If you asked Hermione what had happened after she and George left the alcove she wasn’t she could tell you, since her mind had gone blank. After their quick romp in the alcove and continuously declaring their love for each other, Hermione felt a sudden power boost to her magic and when she stepped out of the alcove, the flames in the torches burned brighter, hotter and they flared up, reaching out to touch her as she walked past them.

She and George had been making their way back to the great hall when Voldemort had gloated about killing Harry, about winning the war.

She had run to the entrance hall where everyone was already convened, staring in horror as Harry’s lifeless body was in Hagrid’s arms, and seeing that the bloody snake was still alive.

Everything inside Hermione went numb and she stumbled back, George caught her and wrapped his arms around her stomach, keeping her pressed against his chest as he murmured in her ear, trying to get through to her.

She was vaguely aware of Voldemort giving them the opportunity to switch sides, and of Neville stepping forwards.

But she was too busy feeling. Anger was swirling inside of her. It was because of Him that so many had suffered and died. It was because of Him that Harry was an orphan and was forced to live with the Dursleys. It was because of him that Remus may still be dying. It was because of Him that Fred had been hurt and if she hadn’t have been there, her mate would’ve died. It was because of him that her little brother and best friend was dead.

He needed to be punished for his crimes. She _wanted_ him to be punished. No, she _wanted_ him dead, more than she had ever wanted anyone to be dead.

She could feel it, building and building and building, yet it was still wound tightly inside of her. She didn’t understand, why hadn’t her magic acted out? She knew it wanted to, that it needed to. What was it waiting for?

She got her answer when cheers and gasps hit her ringing ears and she cried in relief seeing Harry stood in front of Neville, his wand pointed at Voldemort.

She could see them taking, but she couldn’t hear them. Her blood was pounding in her ears, her magic swarming around her body, making her feel dizzy and as if she was about to explode. She slammed her eyes shut and clamped her hands over her ears, trying to control her breathing.

She saw a blinding flash of light through her closed eyelids and when she opened them, it was too see that Nagini was dead, duels had once again broken out and Harry’s and Voldemort’s spells had collided. Red against green with sparks of magical energy spitting dangerously.

She pulled out of George’s hold and ran forward, ignoring his shouts.

She now knew what she had to do. Harry couldn’t beat him on his own, he needed her help. He needed The Blue Mage.

She stopped beside him, and she stopped trying to control her magic, she let it flow freely.

Her eyes opened and they were no longer chocolate brown.

“I told you the day that you attacked my mates, that you had lost the war,” her voice wasn’t her own; it was more musical, one that several people had come to recognise to be her Blue Mage side. All duels stopped as Hermione was lifted off the ground, her hair floating behind her and she began to glow a blinding white colour.

There was a sudden clash of rumbling thunder, making the entire ground shake and a bolt of lightning shot from the sky, hitting Voldemort in the back. He crumbled under her attack, meaning Harry got the upper hand and Voldemort was no more, just a pile of ash.

Everything fell quiet until cheers and applause rang out and Death Eaters turned and fled, but they didn’t get away.

Bolts of lightning shot from the sky like a meteor shower, slamming into those that tried to escape. Some survived, some didn’t. But The Blue Mage had done her job.

She had righted the wrongs of others. She had protected the innocent and punished the criminals.

Hermione fell from the sky, heading towards the ground at the speed of a bullet train.

“Arresto Momentum!” George called, slowing down her descent and Fred arrived just at that moment and he caught her.

Hermione’s eyes remained open, but they weren’t her eyes.

Fred and George knelt down beside her.

“My mates,” her musical voice whispered. “My mates are safe and they are happy,” she smiled, her eyes closing.

“Hermione?” Fred shook her slightly in his hold and her eyes fluttered open, now chocolate brown.

She smiled when she saw Fred and George, both looking well, but a little worried.

“Did we win?”

“Of course we won, exactly how you planned it,” they confirmed, smiling softly.

She sighed. “Let’s go home; I want to sleep, cuddled with my husbands and our perfect little boy.”


	36. Chapter 36

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Page count: 5

Hermione lay on her bed with the twins on either side of her and holding her hands in theirs. Her eyes were closed, her breathing weak and her heart rate was slowing.

Hermione was tired. Not in the sense that she was physically tired, but that she was emotionally and mentally exhausted. Hermione was now five hundred years old, her physical body had stopped ageing not long after her fiftieth birthday and from that point until now, she’d been healthier than anyone ever thought possible.

She was never ill, she never had a cold or the flu, nor did she get a sore throat or a case of the sniffles. Physically she had been fine; it was the emotional and psychological issues she had to deal with over the last four centuries. She had to watch as her father, uncle and grandfather passed away. She had to watch as her brothers and sisters-in-law passed away. Her friends, her nieces and nephews, her own children and grandchildren, many generations had died before her.

She could remember the entirety of her life as if it was the day before.

She had had a traumatic childhood in the Muggle World, she had been adopted by a man that was the best father she could have ever asked for, she had grown up in war, she had married her mates and had their first child, she had helped to win a war, and then went onto change the world for the better.

After Alexander had been born and the war was over, the twins and Hermione had collectively decided to not use any muggle or magical contraceptives and to leave their futures up to the fates. If they were to have more children, then they would love and cherish each one of them, if they were to only remain parents to Alex, they would cherish the gift they had already been given.

And much to their joy, they had not only been gifted another child, but a total of five, and each of their children were special in their own right.

As Alex grew older they knew that it hadn’t been Hermione’s magic that had caused all the hassle with fire, both during and after the pregnancy. In fact, they soon discovered that Alex had an affinity for the element of fire. He couldn’t control it or command it the way Hermione could, but fire seemed to be drawn to him and him vice versa. Alex was always most comfortable when he was sat in front of a roaring fire, he was able to concentrate and feel peace.

When Alex had turned three, their second and third children came along in the form of twin boys, Joey and Jay. They were a mix of their parents with Hermione’s hair colour and the twins’ turquoise eyes and pale complexion. Much to their surprise, Hermione’s magic had gone wonky for a while and after the twins were born, it was clear to see they too had an affinity to the elements. Joey’s was water and Jay’s was quintessence, his mother’s lightning and thunderstorms to be exact.

Joey preferred to sit outdoors in the rain, or to swim in the lake on their property. It was a nightmare to get him out of the bathroom since he’d sometimes fall asleep whilst in the bath or shower with the water calming him as it always did. Jay could always be found standing outdoors in the pouring rain as the thunderstorms were accompanied by lightning. Joey would be focused on the rain whilst Jay would have a look of awe plastered on his face and his eyes would light up in delight as the thunder roared and shook the ground, and the lighting dashed and danced across the sky.

After Joey and Jay turned two, they had their first and only daughter, Jessica, and much to Sirius’ joy, she was a spitting double of her mother with chocolate brown eyes, mahogany curls and a button nose. Hermione’s magic had, once again, gotten a little out of control during and after the pregnancy, this time with the element of earth.

As Jessica grew older it was clear that like her older brothers, she would have an affinity for a particular element. Jessica preferred to be outdoors surrounded by nature, by fauna and flora. She liked to grow plants and to cross-breed them, she would sit for hours just staring at a single blade of grass until one of her brothers came along and teased her.

By the time Jessica turned three Hermione fell pregnant one last time. Shaun was the final and youngest child of the family and as he grew, it wasn’t a surprise that he showed an affinity to the final element of air. He could always be found flying over their cottage on his broom, as laughter pealed from him as he was literally, in his element.

Of course, Regulus wouldn't allow for anyone but himself to be Hermione’s midwife, and for each of her pregnancies, some disaster happened in which resulted in Regulus having to deliver the babies since the healer assigned was always unavailable. Regulus complained for decades that Hermione had scarred him for life. And though he never had children himself, he treated his nieces and nephews as if they were his own.

Alex had started his first year at Hogwarts by the time Shaun had been born and true to Hermione’s words, Professor Snape had made a full recovery and was back teaching potions. Once Alex entered his classroom, Snape put on his billowing robes and the snide comments began. Though for Alex it had been fun to partake in, since he had been warned by his parents regarding the grumpy potions professor, and he also had his best friend. Lyla Lupin, who was slightly younger than him, since it turned out that Tonks had been pregnant during the Final Battle. Once Remus made a full recovery, he fainted at the news and it took both Hermione _and_ Sirius two months to calm the silly wolf down. And much to their surprise, Lyla and Alex had started dating their fourth year and were married by the time they turned twenty-four, giving Hermione her first grandchild a couple of years later. After graduating from Hogwarts, Alex became an Unspeakable like Regulus and Orion, but he mainly focused on research into fiendfyre and other fire magics.

Now the twins’ Hogwarts years were a stressful time, since they had inherited their father’s love of pranks and mischief, and when they also had two-thirds of the Marauders in their lives, well, it was eventful to say the least. They had almost sent McGonagall into early retirement at least three times during their education. The twins grew up and joined the family business, learning the ropes and helping their fathers create new products, and before Hermione knew it, Weasley’s Wizard Wheezes was no longer a small family run business in Diagon Alley. They had opened up shops all around Europe, and within the next two centuries, with the help of their many greats of grandchildren, they had left the continent and moved into Asia, Africa and both of the Americas, making the business one of the most successful businesses in the Wizarding World. They had created a legacy that would be around till the end of time itself. They were far wealthier than The Malfoys had ever been and were one of -if not- _the_ wealthiest families in the Wizarding World.

Jessica had immediately taken to herbology in Hogwarts and once she entered her third year, care of magical creatures. When she graduated she had moved to Romania and stayed with her uncle Charlie, learning all about the dragon reserve and how to care for dragons. She not only became a dragon tamer herself-much to Mrs. Weasley’s horror- but she was also a world-renowned herbologist.

It was clear from the age of five what Shaun wanted to be when he grew up and so his fathers and uncles worked with him for years, helping him to be the best he could be. It also helped that they knew Oliver Wood, a player for Puddlemere United, and he’d pop by the cottage every now and again as well.

Shaun made it onto the Gryffindor Quidditch team his second year as a chaser. He was quite versatile, being able to play all positions, what with Ron once being a keeper, Harry and Charlie being seekers, the twins being beaters and Bill being a chaser, but his favourite position to play was chaser. By the time he entered his fifth year, he had been made Quidditch Captain and he was recruited for the Falmouth Falcons before his graduation ceremony was over, making it onto the England National Team within three years and helping to secure the World Cup for England more than once in his career.

Hermione couldn’t have been any prouder of her children for fear of bursting. Whilst they were out being successful and living their lives without fear, Hermione had aided Kingsley in rebuilding The Ministry, which took several years. Afterwards, she fought for equal rights for all magical creatures, house-elves getting them twenty years later, werewolves, before her two hundredth birthday. With the help of Sirius, The Ancient and Noble House of Black was no more, now it was The Ancient and Noble House of Weasley-Black, creating an entirely new house with its own traditions, values and morals.

Orion passed barely fifteen years after Alex was born and he died of natural causes. He’d had a long and tiresome life and Hermione was grateful that he could finally rest in peace. Her father had passed with her and his great-grandchildren by the side of his bed, he was happy as he would once again see James and Remus, who’d passed a few years before. Regulus went a year after Sirius after contracting a Wizarding form of stomach flu, but his immune system was weak and he died in his sleep.

Now her brothers and sisters she missed greatly.

When Hermione had been pregnant it wasn’t just Alex that made Hermione’s magic flare up whenever Ginny had been around. When Ginny had finally met Alex after the Final Battle, the fire in the living room had spit at her like an angry volcano, and when Fred took him from Ginny, it had stopped. When Ginny first held Joey and Jay, a thunder and lightning storm replaced the calm blue sky. When Ginny had held Jessica for the first time, there had been a tremor in the ground, and when she held Shaun for the first, every door and window in the cottage was blown open by a sudden gust of wind.

It hadn’t just been upon the first meeting either, the affinity the children had for the elements, it was as if it wanted to protect them from something. And that all became clear at Harry’s twenty-fifth birthday party, when he revealed to everyone that he was engaged, to Charlie Weasley.

Ginny had lost it, she threw hexes in every direction and Hermione had been forced to conjure several tornados to surround everyone there, until the hexes had been absorbed by the vortex. Hermione bound Ginny and when she got close, Ginny’s eyes were red, blood-red. She had been taken to St. Mungo’s that day and had never left; she died there seventy-years later. It seemed that Voldemort’s possession of her had done far more damage to her soul then anyone had ever realised, and it explained a lot of her behaviour over the years since it had been steadily getting worse.

Harry and Charlie married and adopted three orphaned babies, Albus Severus, James Sirius, and Lily Potter, who all attended Hogwarts. Bill and Fleur had three children, Victorie, Lucas and Domonique, who ended up marrying Teddy Lupin, the son of Tonks and Remus. Percy married a woman named Audrey from The Ministry and had two children, Molly and Lucy, whilst Ron married Luna, and they had two children of their own, Hugo and Rose. 

Draco became the Head of the House of Malfoy and had the manor stripped of everything, allowing his mother to decorate it as she wished. It had kept her busy for a year, whilst Draco decided to do some travelling, coming home every so often to catch up or for a family obligation. After nearly two years, he returned, engaged to Half-blood witch they had never heard of, let alone met. She was American and Draco had met her whilst he visited the Grand Canyon in the Muggle World. Five years afterwards, they were married with a son, Scorpius.

Over the years Hermione and her husbands watched everyone they loved die, including their own children and grandchildren and great-children and so on for close to five centuries. And they were tired, so very tired, and they knew their time was coming to an end and death was upon them. But they didn’t fear it, they didn’t fight it, they welcomed it. It would take them to the afterlife, where they would be reunited with their family, friends and children.

“Grandma?” A voice said quietly. Hermione opened her eyes and turned her head slightly.

“Reggie,” her voice was hoarse and it cracked from a lack of use.

For the last two weeks, Hermione and the twins had been bedridden. It must’ve been an odd sight, the three of them, looking no older than fifty yet lying on their own death bed.

Weasley red hair came into view, turquoise eyes shining with unshed tears and a quivering lip. Reggie was her many greats of a grandson and had recently turned six years old. It had always amazed her how every few decades, a Weasley-Black child would be born and they would either be a spitting double of Hermione or of the twins, but that was genetics for you.

“I don’t want you to leave.”

Hermione was saddened by his clear distress and she gave him a weak and tired smile.

“Whether I am here or I am in the afterlife, I will always love you, as will your grandfathers. We have been around for a very long time, we may not look old, but we are, so very old and it’s our time to go. You know of The Blue Mage and you know that I am here only until the next one is born. And she has been. I must go so she can grow and learn and continue to better the world, just I had to do, as did my predecessors.”

Her eyes turned to her many greats of a granddaughter as she propped Reggie up on her hip. Something in her eyes must’ve been seen because moments later, her bedroom was filled to the brim of all of her family, not one person was missing, not even those that worked out of the country, including her grandson who had been undercover in Russia for the past six months.

“Is it time?” the twins both asked her, their eyes opening.

“It is time, My Mates,” her voice becoming musical and her eyes changing colour for the first time in years, at this, everyone knew it was the end. The Blue Mage was leaving.

“We love you all,” the three spoke together.

“I’ll be waiting for you,” Hermione whispered.

“We’ll be there with you,” her mates replied, and their eyes closed for the final time, to the sounds of crying and family members comforting each other, as they lost the matriarch and patriarchs to the Ancient and Noble House of Weasley-Black.


End file.
